Elite Lady Topper Season Still in Play, Prepare to go Against MTSU in Diddle Arena Saturday
It has been an exciting beginning to the Non-Conference and CUSA season for the Lady Toppers. This is a review of the first four CUSA games and a look at what to expect on Saturday against MTSU.
Liberty’s Smuda burns WKU from inside the paint and Hess, Hodges, and Boone roast the Lady Toppers from outside the three-point arc.
Both teams played to their strengths in this first CUSA conference game of the 2024-2025 season. Liberty with inside height, rebounding, and three-point accuracy, and WKU with new height of their own, pressure defense, heart and never quit attitude. Ultimately, Liberty’s rebounding edge (41-25) and three point shooting (overall 12-of-23) was WKU’s undoing. But there is more to the story as other statistics will show.
Both Liberty and WKU had four players scoring in double figures. Liberty was led in scoring by Emma Hess with 16, Bella Smuda with 14, and Asia Boone and Jordan Hodges both added 12 points. Boone, Hodges and Hess went 9 of 14 from the three point line and the team shot 12 of 23 overall from three. Bella Smuda went 7 of 11 from the field with 14 points and nine rebounds. These four women show, once again, that if they all play well, they alone can win a game for their team. It also shows that if you can contain Hess, Smuda, Boone or Hodges, this Liberty squad is beatable. But that is a big ask for any team. Conference favorite MTSU has figured out Liberty so far this season winning 69-54. Can anyone else, though?
WKU’s Destiny Salary #1 led all scorers with 19 points. Acacia Hayes #10 added 13 points and four rebounds. Alexis Mead #3 added 12 points, six assists and five steals. Zofia Telegdy #23 had 11 points and three assists, but only three rebounds. Starter Josie Gilvin #33 had 8 rebounds, but only four points in 33 minutes of play. In this game, Western’s bench could only add seven points, and that is not enough to beat good teams.
Western jumped out early to a 13-7 lead in the first eight minutes of play and looked like if that could continue, WKU would cruise. But that was not to be. From the eighth minute of the first quarter until the end of the game, The Lady Toppers could not keep pace with Liberty and fell short 77-66.
FIU Panthers Claw Out a 80-79 Win Against WKU Lady Toppers
Angena Belloso and Parris Atkins of FIU led all scorers with 23 points each. 6’4” Center Isnelle Natabou scored 10 and added eight on the glass. Former Lady Topper Aaliyah Pitts had 12 points and 12 rebounds, including hitting two free-throws to give FIU their 79th and 80th points giving the Panthers their final score. FIU dominated the boards 44-20 and this plus poor shooting was WKU’s ultimate demise.
Western was led by Destiny Salary with 21 points. Alexis Mead added 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 9 steals. Acacia Hayes dropped 19 points. Josie Gilvin was one point and one rebound from a triple-double scoring 9 points, 9 assists and 11 steals. Once again, the WKU bench only added 8 points and 5 rebounds.
The difference in this game was FIU’s rebounding margin +24 vs WKU’s turnover margin +26. While WKU caused an unheard of number of FIU Turnovers (38) it only led to 38 points off turnovers as WKU struggled to hit shots (32-for-80 overall) (9-for-35 from three) for most of the game, including three shots in the final 36 seconds.
Lady Toppers Surge Late to Win 51-44 over Jax State
Honestly this was a painful game to watch. Three point shooting on both sides was awful at 20% for WKU and 15.4% for JSU. Overall shooting was only slightly better at 39% for WKU and 29% for JSU. Both teams had ample opportunities to blow it open, but the score was tied at 31-all after three periods, before Western pulled away scoring 20 to 13 in the fourth quarter. It was not a pretty game, but WKU found a way to win on the road.
Western’s Zofia Telegdy led all scorers with 13 points. Bre’Anna Rhodes scored 12 for Jax State. No other players scored in double figures. WKU’s bench did score 16 points in this game, led by Mackenzie Chatfield with nine. The Lady Toppers did outrebound the Gamecocks 42-33 and that is probably the big stat that helped WKU win in the end. If WKU can rebound, they’re incredibly likely to win given their pressure defense.
WKU Defeats Conference Newcomer Kennesaw State 72-62
Once again, WKU struggled from behind the arc shooting an abysmal 15.8% (3-19). Luckily, other shots fell pretty well shooting 54.7% inside the arc and 85% from the free-throw stripe. WKU out rebounded Kennesaw 35-34 and led the turnover battle 20-10. All this was just enough to win the game by 10. WKU jumped out in the first quarter 17-10 and did just enough to stay ahead the rest of the game. They were never able to really blow the game open, although they did hold a 16 point margin late in the third quarter.
Kennesaw State had two players with 19 points each, Lee Lee Willis and Keyarah Berry. WKU was led by Destiny Salary’s 16 points and 6 assists. Alexis Mead added 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals in 37 minutes. Zsofia Telegdy added 12 points and 12 rebounds. Acacia Hayes had 13 points and Josie Gilvin 7.
Previewing the Tops vs. MTSU
Arch Rival MTSU Comes to BG at 12-5 Overall and 4-0 in CUSA Play and Looking Dominant
MTSU comes into Bowling Green on Saturday averaging 66.4 points per game but in their 12 win streak, they hold opponents under 60 points. In the last four games, no CUSA opponent has reached 50. Western averages 74.4 points per game, but struggles against quality big players and MTSU has nine ladies 6’ or taller. For WKU to win this game, they will need to shoot the three pointer well, box out and get rebounds, be fast but under control, make layups, and get turnovers. Given how both teams are playing right now, this will be a tall order for Western, but anything can happen in a rivalry game.
Middle TN Players to Watch Out For
Ta’Mia Scott is a 6’ Junior from Clarksville, TN averaging 15.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Anastasia Boldyreva is a 6’6” Senior Center from Moscow, Russia who averages 14.6 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. Jalynn Gregory is a 5’8” Senior Guard from Lafayette, TN averaging 14.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Courtney Blakely is a 5”8” Senior point guard from Gary, IN who averages 9.9 points, 4.2 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. Elina Arike is a 6’2” Senior Forward from Helsinki, Finland averaging 7.1 points, 5 rebounds and almost 2 assists per game. These five ladies average 34 minutes per game and rarely foul.
WKU Players to Watch Out For
Alexis Mead is the key. A 5’4” Senior Point Guard from Moreno Valley, CA, averaging 13.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2.9 steals, if she is on, she can score, dish, rebound and steal WKU’s way to a victory. Destiny Salary is a 6’ Senior Guard from Jonesboro, AR, averaging 12.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. Acacia Hayes is a 5’7” Junior Guard from Murfreesboro, TN (her sisters played for MTSU, interestingly enough) averaging 12 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 2.4 steals per contest. After being injured last year at Murfreesboro, Acacia and WKU would love for her to play the game of her life and lead Western to victory over her hometown school. Josie Gilvin is a 6’ Junior Guard from Louisville, KY averaging 9.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game. When she is hot, other teams need to watch out. Josie is due for a big game, so please let it be Saturday. Zsofia Telegdy is a 6’3” Junior from Budapest, Hungary, averages 8.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. She can be a big presence inside, but sometimes struggles against bigger opponents. She is a huge X factor for the Tops as the lone major post presence. Mackenzie Chatfield is usually the first player off the bench and can be a deadly three point shooter when she is accurate. Mackenzie is a 5’9” Sophomore Guard from Auckland, New Zealand averaging 6.8 points per game.
Conclusion
Western is 11-5 and 2-2 and sitting 5th in CUSA. The fast pace, hard nosed defense, and ability to steal the ball makes this a very exciting team to watch. If there were one game a fan should attend, it would be this one. MTSU claims they will turn Diddle Arena “True Blue” this season for this and the guys game in a few weeks. As a WKU Alumni and fan, born and raised in Bowling Green, I find this very offensive and will do my part to cheer on the Red and White of Dear Old Western.
I challenge Bowling Green, Warren and surrounding counties, students, staff, alumni, former players, friends, enemies, and anyone else reading to get your family to Diddle this season and cheer on these two exciting basketball teams. Our stands have been far too empty. These players have worked too hard to play in an empty gym.
GO TOPS!!! Beat MTSU!
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GO TOPS!!!!