Lady Topper Hoops: Lady Tops Get Stomped From the Start, Lay an Egg at Home Against Rice
Let’s just be honest her:. WKU women’s basketball has laid two eggs at home in the last half a month. On January 24, Southern Miss, a .500…
Let’s just be honest her:. WKU women’s basketball has laid two eggs at home in the last half a month. On January 24, Southern Miss, a .500 overall team, came into Diddle and defeated the Tops by 13. Lone conference undefeated Rice came into Diddle Thursday hoping to do the same.
Enough stalling.
That’s what happened. Rice absolutely bloodied up the Lady Toppers in a hideous performance, 68–46.
There’s not much else to say here, frankly.
Sure, I could tell you Rice jumped out to a 15–1 lead. I could tell you the Tops fought back, winning the second quarter by three to go into halftime down 13. I could tell you Rice expanded the lead from there. I could tell you Rice played great defense, and the Toppers just couldn’t seem to hit anything.
Frankly, Rice was just better than WKU in every area Thursday, and it was frustrating to watch. WKU did fight and make it interesting a few times. WKU had the ball with a chance to cut it to 10, but Rice made all of the shots it needed to keep it under control.
How bad was it?
WKU was outshot 31% to 58%
Dee Givens and Raneem Elgedawy combined for 4-for-21 from the field and a total of 11 points.
6'9" Nancy Mulkey (a former Greenwood High School player) shot 4–5 from the field, scoring eight points, grabbing ten rebounds, and blocking five shots. She made a few blocks in the beginning and the Tops played scared the rest of the game.
WKU outfouled Rice 16–9.
WKU lost the rebounding battle by 17.
Sadly, WKU only turned the ball over seven times, while Rice turned it over 17. Yet WKU still lost by 22. Translation: It should have been worse than a 22 point loss.
Alexis Brewer did not play.
Whitney Creech (Where did that come from?!?) was the lone Lady Topper in double figures with 12 points.
6'3" Arame Niang was 3–9 from the field and 2–7 from three. Perhaps not the best idea to have your biggest player cranking it from outside.
WKU was never close than 11 points after the first five minutes.
I think I made my point. Don’t get me wrong. Rice is amazing. They have several impact players. They have three losses, and they are all to Top 100 teams. They have three quality wins, as well. They have now established themselves as the true favorites with a de facto two game conference lead.
That being said, WKU must get it together quickly. A viable North Texas comes into Diddle Arena Saturday. If the Tops don’t throw it together quickly, WKU could find itself plummeting quickly. With all but two of their remaining games coming against possible conference contenders, Western could easily finish with five or six losses in conference.
It’s up to the Lady Tops, but they have been exposed defensively several times this year. WKU takes on UNT Saturday, February 9 at 2 p.m. CT in Diddle.