LAS VEGAS — The BYU women's basketball team has advanced to the championship game of the Mountain West Conference tournament the past two years.
"We've played well in Vegas," said coach Jeff Judkins.
There's reason to believe, as this season's tournament opens Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center, that the Cougars could experience similar success again.
Who knows? Maybe BYU, which lost in the 2000 and 2001 title games, can win it all this time around. At least, that's the goal.
"We know if we win this tournament we'll go to the NCAA tournament," Judkins said. "That's what we're aiming for."
The Cougars (19-8 overall, 10-4 in the MWC) are the No. 3 seed and have won three straight games and nine of their past 11. They face No. 6 seed Wyoming (13-14, 5-9) Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
BYU enters the tournament with plenty of confidence, having beaten archrival Utah in its home finale, then defeating UNLV and San Diego State on the road last weekend.
"We're playing as well right now as we have all year," Judkins said.
The Cougars soundly thumped the Cowgirls in their two previous meetings this season —81-65 in Provo and 75-58 in Laramie.
"BYU has shown that they're one of the best teams in this conference," said Wyoming coach Cindy Fisher.
Should the Cougars get past the Cowgirls, they will likely face New Mexico in the tournament semifinals on Friday.
BYU and UNM finished in a second-place tie in the MWC standings, but the Lobos garnered the No. 2 seed by sweeping the season series with the Cougars. New Mexico was the last team to defeat BYU, on Feb. 16 at the Marriott Center.
Forward Jennifer Leitner, who sat out of Saturday's victory over SDSU due to a sore knee, is expected to play Wednesday against Wyoming.
"Staying off (the knee) for two days has really helped her," Judkins said.
Even without Leitner in their last outing, the Cougars were able to put away the Aztecs. Melanie Pearson came off the bench to score 23 points while All-America guard Erin Thorn had 22.
BYU trailed by seven at halftime, then exploded in the second half, lighting up the scoreboard for 46 points.
Wyoming is led by freshman forward Carrie Bacon (13 points and 6.2 rebounds per game), junior forward Darci Arsene (11.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and junior center Ann McColl (10.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg).
"We have a lot of respect for Wyoming," Judkins said. "They've lost a lot of close games. They're very talented and athletic. We don't match up well with them, so we'll have our hands full in this first game."
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com