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Fresno State and Nevada are leaving the Western Athletic Conference for the Mountain West. The schools ended a wild day by announcing they are accepting invitations to join the Mountain West, which has added three prominent members of the WAC in the last 2 months. Boise State already is bound for the MWC next year and now the Bulldogs and Wolf Pack are following as well, leaving the WAC's future in question and the Mountain West preparing for life after Utah and possibly Brigham Young.

Amisha Carter collected 23 points and 12 rebounds, leading seventh-ranked Louisiana Tech to the final of the Western Athletic Conference tournament with a 74-47 victory over Texas-El Paso in Fresno, Calif., yesterday. Trina Frierson scored 12 points for the Techsters (26-2), who posted their 18th straight victory and will face Rice, a 55-42 winner over Tulsa yesterday, for the title today. The Techsters haven't lost since suffering an overtime defeat at Rice on Jan. 5. Louisiana Tech made a 21-3 run in the second half, blowing out yet another WAC opponent with its fastbreak offense and suffocating defense.

Eighth-ranked Louisiana Tech won its 19th straight conference tournament game yesterday, beating Tulsa by 57-42 in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference in Tulsa, Okla. Louisiana Tech won six straight Sun Belt Conference championships before moving to the WAC this season. Brooke Lassiter scored 14 points, including eight free throws in the final two minutes for the top-seeded Techsters (24-4), winners of 22 of their last 23 games. Louisiana Tech will play Hawaii for the championship today.

The Western Athletic Conference admitted yesterday that officials made a mistake on a key play in Saturday's non-conference game between Tulsa and Oklahoma State. Whether the error affected the outcome of Oklahoma State's 30-9 victory at Stillwater, Okla., remains under debate. The mistake was made by a WAC crew in ruling that a pass apparently intercepted by a Tulsa player and returned for a touchdown was incomplete. Oklahoma State, a member of the Big 12, kept possession and later scored on the drive, taking a 10-0 lead in the second quarter.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - It is a testament to the radical overhaul of collegiate athletic conferences that the representative of faraway Boise State could declare at Monday's Big East Conference spring meetings that his school remains committed to joining the conference. "They made a decision five months ago to join the Big East Conference, and nothing's changed," said Mark Coyle, who was named Boise State's athletic director in December. "We are here at the conference meetings.

Brigham Young says the Western Athletic Conference is ready to become a 16- team league spread across four time zones. Among the WAC's additions would be Southern Methodist, Texas Christian and Rice - three of four Southwest Conference schools left out of the Big Eight's expansion. Also joining the league beginning with the 1996 football season will be Nevada-Las Vegas, Tulsa and San Jose State. The other SWC team, Houston, has expressed no interest in joining the WAC. BYU president Rex Lee issued a letter yesterday confirming the presidents' council made the decision to expand and he supported the decision.

Frustrated in the belief that the township has ignored the views of minorities, a group of residents is hoping it can find empowerment through a common voice. That voice is the Winslow Action Committee, a nonpartisan panel that formed in March to promote equity and renew interest in local politics among the township's 31,000 residents. "We just wanted to make sure all our citizens had their viewpoints represented," WAC president William Waller said. "I felt I had become totally disenfranchised by what I saw happening in the township," Waller said, "especially on the part of the Township Committee.

The Cotton and Holiday bowls yesterday announced a six-year partnership that gives them access to teams from the Big 12, Pac-10 and Western Athletic conferences, as well as options on Notre Dame. The agreement improves the postseason options for the Holiday Bowl while preserving tradition for the Cotton Bowl, which earlier this year lost a bid to keep a top New Year's Day television slot during a realignment of bowls by conference commissioners. The Cotton Bowl historically has featured the champion of the soon-to-be- dissolved Southwest Conference.

Two-time champion Kim Clijsters beat Emilie Loit, 6-4, 7-5, yesterday to reach the semifinals of the SEAT Open in Luxembourg. Clijsters, slated to return to No. 1 in the rankings next week, next faces fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova, who came back to defeat Anca Barna, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Patty Schnyder ousted top-seeded Anastasia Myskina, 6-1, 6-1, in the Generali Open quarterfinals in Linz, Austria. Defending champion Sebastien Grosjean lost in the St. Petersburg Open quarterfinals, eliminated by Alex Corretja, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5)

The only shooting for St. John's senior D.J. Kennedy at this NCAA tournament involves a video camera. Kennedy suffered a torn ligament in his right knee during the Big East tournament, reducing him to the roles of coach and cheerleader. He's capturing his team's journey with his camera as the sixth-seeded Red Storm (21-11) face 11th-seeded Gonzaga (24-9) Thursday night in the Southeast Regional in Denver. Kennedy, who averaged 10.4 points per game, said with a smile that he was available to shoot late free throws.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - It is a testament to the radical overhaul of collegiate athletic conferences that the representative of faraway Boise State could declare at Monday's Big East Conference spring meetings that his school remains committed to joining the conference. "They made a decision five months ago to join the Big East Conference, and nothing's changed," said Mark Coyle, who was named Boise State's athletic director in December. "We are here at the conference meetings.

The only shooting for St. John's senior D.J. Kennedy at this NCAA tournament involves a video camera. Kennedy suffered a torn ligament in his right knee during the Big East tournament, reducing him to the roles of coach and cheerleader. He's capturing his team's journey with his camera as the sixth-seeded Red Storm (21-11) face 11th-seeded Gonzaga (24-9) Thursday night in the Southeast Regional in Denver. Kennedy, who averaged 10.4 points per game, said with a smile that he was available to shoot late free throws.

SO NOW THE real fun begins. ESPN couldn't even wait for the first Bowl Championship Series standings to be revealed next week. It had to give us an unofficial version this week, since America obviously couldn't go another 7 days without arguing over which teams were getting hosed the most. You've got to love it. I know the BCS honchos do. As long as people are talking about it, good or bad, that means we're paying attention. There have been controversies before. But this season, it carries a much different vibe.

Fresno State and Nevada are leaving the Western Athletic Conference for the Mountain West. The schools ended a wild day by announcing they are accepting invitations to join the Mountain West, which has added three prominent members of the WAC in the last 2 months. Boise State already is bound for the MWC next year and now the Bulldogs and Wolf Pack are following as well, leaving the WAC's future in question and the Mountain West preparing for life after Utah and possibly Brigham Young.

Don Haskins, credited with helping break color barriers in college sports in 1966 when he used five black starters to win a national basketball title for Texas Western, died yesterday. He was 78. Dr. Dwayne Aboud, Haskins' physician, said that Haskins had been suffering from congestive heart failure and died at home in El Paso about 4:30 p.m. He was surrounded by friends and relatives, Aboud said. "The word unique does not begin to describe Don Haskins," said Bob Knight, the winningest men's coach in the sport's history.

Eleven years ago, when my mother was getting ready to enter St. Mary's Catholic Nursing Home in Cherry Hill, the selection of a "roomie" appropriate for her was my paramount concern. "My mother must have a roommate who's on her toes. Nobody comatose, please - a woman who's smart and well-informed, I beg you," I implored an administrator. I explained Mom's accomplishments as a real estate broker and town leader who had her own front-porch business in Audubon during the 1960s.

Amisha Carter collected 23 points and 12 rebounds, leading seventh-ranked Louisiana Tech to the final of the Western Athletic Conference tournament with a 74-47 victory over Texas-El Paso in Fresno, Calif., yesterday. Trina Frierson scored 12 points for the Techsters (26-2), who posted their 18th straight victory and will face Rice, a 55-42 winner over Tulsa yesterday, for the title today. The Techsters haven't lost since suffering an overtime defeat at Rice on Jan. 5. Louisiana Tech made a 21-3 run in the second half, blowing out yet another WAC opponent with its fastbreak offense and suffocating defense.

Two-time champion Kim Clijsters beat Emilie Loit, 6-4, 7-5, yesterday to reach the semifinals of the SEAT Open in Luxembourg. Clijsters, slated to return to No. 1 in the rankings next week, next faces fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova, who came back to defeat Anca Barna, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Patty Schnyder ousted top-seeded Anastasia Myskina, 6-1, 6-1, in the Generali Open quarterfinals in Linz, Austria. Defending champion Sebastien Grosjean lost in the St. Petersburg Open quarterfinals, eliminated by Alex Corretja, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5)

With the euphoria from last Saturday night's impressive 40-7 victory over Nebraska still hanging in the Happy Valley air, Penn State coach Joe Paterno got to worrying. Worrying that the 15th-ranked Nittany Lions might be thinking that they're all that. Worrying that they might perceive today's opponent, Louisiana Tech, as easy prey. So in an effort to plant his players' feet back on the ground, the 75-year-old coach preached one of his favorite warnings: You're never as good as you think you are when you win, never as bad as you think you are when you lose.

Eighth-ranked Louisiana Tech won its 19th straight conference tournament game yesterday, beating Tulsa by 57-42 in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference in Tulsa, Okla. Louisiana Tech won six straight Sun Belt Conference championships before moving to the WAC this season. Brooke Lassiter scored 14 points, including eight free throws in the final two minutes for the top-seeded Techsters (24-4), winners of 22 of their last 23 games. Louisiana Tech will play Hawaii for the championship today.