Early in the first half of Marquette's win over Louisville on Sunday, Golden Eagles coach Terri Mitchell began yelling at senior Kiesha Oliver.

	Abbie Willenborg is averaging 16.2 points and 9.1 rebounds.

But instead of instructions, Mitchell hollered a word of congratulations to Oliver as she sprinted by the bench.

Trouble was, Oliver had no idea why Mitchell was yelling such a thing.

"Kiesha looked at me like I was crazy," Mitchell said. "At the next timeout, she asked me what I was talking about and I had to tell her she had just scored her 1,000th point."

After the game, however, when Marquette had clinched its 60-49 victory over the Cardinals, Oliver and the rest of the Golden Eagles knew exactly what the win meant.

The Conference USA American Division crown. A first-round bye in the conference tournament. Mitchell's fourth consecutive season with 20 or more wins. And of course, with 11 points, Oliver joined her other two senior teammates in eclipsing 1,000 career points.

"But we're not finished yet," Mitchell said Monday. "We've got three more games to take care of business. No one is satisfied.

"A 20-4 record is good. But with three games left, we still have a regular-season championship to attain. That's the first goal. We can do it this weekend, and if we win at DePaul, we would win the most games in regular-season history."

Winning isn't everything, though.

"We're also looking for our highest seed ever in the NCAA Tournament," Mitchell said. "In my first season, we were seeded 12th. And since, we've been to No. 10 and then to No. 8 last year. We want to be higher."

The Golden Eagles have indeed soared higher in 2000. Marquette, 12-1 in C-USA, has won 11 of its last 12 games, including a 19-point victory over then-No. 21 Tulane. On Monday, the Golden Eagles debuted in both the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll (at No. 25) and The Associated Press Top 25 (at No. 23) for their first-even national ranking.

Mitchell credits the recent success to a team meeting the Eagles held two days after disappointing 12-point loss to Memphis on Jan. 23.

"We spent most of our time in the locker room that day, having a very serious meeting about recommiting ourselves to winning a championship," Mitchell said. "We came up with seven goals that we would hold each other accountable to, both as a coach and player, and signed a contract."

Although the seven "points" were confidential and discussed only among team members, the results have spoken for themselves. Marquette has won six straight games since.

"It (the meeting) was one of the more significant moments I've had as a coach," Mitchell said. "I stood in that locker room that day and we talked and I looked in their eyes and saw how badly they wanted to win and take this program to the next level."

Oliver, as well as senior posts Abbie Willenborg and Lisa Oldenburg, have helped lead Marquette's run. All three has scored at least 1,000 points in their careers with the Golden Eagles. Oldenburg leads Marquette in scoring with a 16.6 average. Willenborg, who averages 16.2 points, leads the team in rebounding with 9.1 boards per game.

She delivers, too
Before Karl Malone made his way to Oakland for the NBA All-Star game last weekend, the Utah Jazz forward made a stopover in Ruston, La.

Malone's daughter, Louisiana Tech 6-foot-2 freshman Cheryl Ford, made her first start for the Lady Techsters in Thursday's 89-62 victory over Florida International, and dad was on hand for the occasion.

Ford, a member of the 1998 U.S. Olympic U-17 team, contributed eight rebounds, three blocks and 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting in the Sun Belt Conference win.

"It was nice having my father see me play, but I was more nervous about starting," said Ford, who was in the starting lineup as a replacement for injured center Shaka Massey, who is expected to be miss four weeks after knee surgery. "I was a little nervous right at the start but, after about a minute, I was ready to go."

Dad was probably impressed, but La. Tech coach Leon Barmore definitely was.

"I thought Cheryl really played well and ran the floor early," Barmore said. "With Massey out for the next few weeks, we need some of our younger players to step up. Tonight they showed that they can really contribute."

The fine line
In last Thursday's 64-52 loss to Kansas, Texas senior Edwina Brown scored just seven points, well below her average.

And that turned out to be trouble for the Longhorns' next opponent. Against Baylor on Saturday, Brown rebounded with her second career triple-double. The 5-10 forward knocked down game-highs of 18 points and 10 assists, and also picked up 10 rebounds in a 97-58 Big 12 victory. In 30 minutes, Brown went 5-for-11 from the field, including an 8-for-8 performance from the free-throw line. She committed just three turnovers.

Brown notched her first triple-double against Southwest Texas last season, getting 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. She currently ranks third in the nation with a 22.5 scoring average. In 22 games, she has scored 496 points.