Lady Topper Hoops: Lady Toppers Explosive in 104–74 Exhibition Rout
The Western Kentucky Lady Toppers started 2018–19 with an impressive offensive performance, exploding in the first quarter and blitzing…
The Western Kentucky Lady Toppers started 2018–19 with an impressive offensive performance, exploding in the first quarter and blitzing West Virginia State, starting the game up 23 points after the first frame en route to a 104–74 victory.
Western Kentucky women’s basketball has been excellent in recent memory. Perhaps the greatest questions heading into the 2018–19 campaign were how Greg Collins would continue Michelle Clark-Heard’s growth of the program, and how the Lady Tops would replace the offensive production of Tashia and Ivy Brown.
Suffice it to say Dee Givens took care of that issue for tonight, at least. Dee scored WKU’s first nine points and by the end of the first half was on pace to nearly eclipse 50 points by the end of the night. Dee’s 24 first half points put the Lady Toppers up 22 at the break. All told, the infamously injury riddled redshirt junior tallied 27 to lead all scorers.
WKU cruised to a 30 point victory, never encountering another threat after bursting to a 13 point lead after the first frame of the ball game.
All told, WKU’s ladies of the hardwood bursted forth with 104 points. Seven players scored nine or more points, while every player that saw the court scored at least one basket.
Much like Rick Stansbury on Tuesday, Greg Collins messed with his lineups, not playing a single player for more than 24 minutes.
Notables
Dee Givens: 27 points on 10–14 shooting, four assists, four rebounds, a block, and an assist with only two turnovers in 20 minutes. If the Lady Toppers are to continue chasing championships, Dee Givens must step up from being the Sixth Man of the Year to being a Player of the Year candidate for the Lady Tops.
Raneem Elgedawy did not miss a shot from the field, going 5-for-5 from the floor with 11 points. Raneem is the only returning true frontcourt player on the Lady Toppers.
Meral Abdelgewad is a long, speedy Egyptian freshman with an all-around ability that could blossom into something extremely special going forward. Meral could easily be a Freshman of the Year type of candidate with potential to immediately make All-Conference. She will start from day one, and as soon as she figures out how to take care of the basketball and slow the game down, she will be a force for the Lady Tops wherever Coach Collins chooses to put her.
Alexis Brewer is an accurate, consistent sharpshooter. Alexis seems to be an explosive talent from deep. Last year’s team could have used a consistent long range threat. Can Alexis be that for the Lady Tops?
Jae’Lisa Allen is a grad transfer from the University of Virginia. Allen brings size and dependability. She showed an ability to score if she has to, but more importantly, showed some glue-like qualities and could really be a nice, dependable piece for Collins to use in critical situations.
Terri Smith and Sherry Porter both showed some improvement from last year, tallying 19 total points, eight assists and six steals. These two could be the driving force in improving the defense.
Freshman Kallie Searcy was impressive, coming in for 13 minutes and producing some defense, rebounding, and drawing some fouls. The Brentwood, TN native showed some IQ and ability to think as a true freshman. She may not see the court more than five minutes a game in 2018–19, but she has plenty of potential.
Positives
Forced 30 turnovers (17 steals)
Scored 104
Shot 60.6% for the game (40% from three)
Depth
Negatives
Committed 20 turnovers
Rebounding was a weakness, especially indecisiveness on the boards
74 points surrendered
Overall Feel
WKU is clearly still gelling and finding itself, but the Lady Toppers have once again reloaded. WKU knows it has Elgedawy and Dee Givens, but the Tops need another consistent performer to be excellent once again. Will this person emerge? Time will tell.
The Lady Toppers must get better defensively, and they cannot afford to turn the ball over 20 times per game. For a first game and a team picked to finish fourth in Conference USA, WKU passed the test.
However, things get real Tuesday against a Top 5 Louisville squad coming off of a Final Four run. Louisville comes to Diddle Arena Tuesday, November 6 at 7 p.m. CT. Louisville marks the first of a Murderers Row sort of non-conference schedule.