Lady Topper Hoops: Lady Tops Take On Quality Power 5 Teams, Open Year With Losses to UofL, Oklahoma
The Western Kentucky Lady Toppers are officially under way. In two highly anticipated battles, WKU (0–2, 0–0 C-USA) squandered significant…
The Western Kentucky Lady Toppers are officially under way. In two highly anticipated battles, WKU (0–2, 0–0 C-USA) squandered significant opportunities to make a ball game out of an opponent coming off of a Final Four run in fifth-ranked Louisville at home (2–0, 0–0 ACC), 102–80. In a much more standard quality loss against an Oklahoma team (1–0, 0–0 Big 12), Western was within five in the second quarter before OU took control and rarely saw its lead melt down lower than seven points, losing 90–83 to the Sooners in Norman, Oklahoma.
vs. Louisville, 11/6
Louisville started strong, forcing multiple turnovers with a vicious press that WKU fans have become so accustomed to since 2012. In addition to multiple mistakes by WKU, UofL utterly dominated the boards early in the first, helping the Cardinals to a healthy 15–2 start after nearly two-and-a-half minutes. However, WKU sunk its teeth in, outscoring Louisville 19–6 over the next six minutes and trailing 27–21 at 1:12 left in the first.
WKU then made mistakes to allow Louisville to score the last five points of the first quarter, including a heartbreaking three from Asia Durr with four seconds left, to finish the frame down 11, 32–21.
This happened again in the second quarter. Louisville refocused, slapping the Lady Toppers to take a lead as big as 15, only to have WKU to cut the lead to six, 49–43 at 1:34 left in the second. Again, WKU missed decent attempts to keep the lead at bay, and again, with less than ten seconds left on the clock, Louisville’s Asia Durr nailed a backbreaking three to take the lead to 11 at the break, 54–43.
At the half, WKU was holding its own, despite being utterly dominated physically, missing easy opportunities for baskets, missing free throws, and allowing Louisville to bomb away from behind the arc at will.
All told, WKU was down 17–11 in points off turnovers, 17–9 in second chance points, and 18–2 in points off the bench. WKU was also outscored 27–9 from behind the arc in the first half. Given all of that, for WKU to be down only 11 was a miracle.
As the Toppers came out for the second half, the Lady Toppers got a stop, scrambled for rebounds, and tread water with Louisville for the first three minutes of the third quarter, outscoring the Cards 4–2 in a sloppy first three minutes of the third, cutting the lead to nine for the final time on a layup by Alexis Brewer. Then the ladies completely melted down, getting outscored 29–4 in the last seven minutes of the third quarter. Louisville bust open the floodgates, and never looked back.
The fourth quarter was much more of a WKU dominated affair, with WKU outscoring the Cardinals by 12 in the final frame. Unfortunately for the Tops, digging a 34 point hole was too much to make it interesting at the end.
All told, WKU held its own against an opponent ranked in the top five in the country. Louisville is a national championship contender, and WKU was picked to finish fourth in Conference USA. Given this performance, surely WKU is a true contender for a Conference USA title at year’s end.
WKU was paced in scoring by Alexis Brewer (22 points, 12–16 FT) and Dee Givens (18 points, 3 steals).
at Oklahoma 11/9
WKU was much more competitive Friday night against Oklahoma. Again, facing a team that outsizes the Tops, WKU was dominated on the boards throughout the night. OU’s Madi Williams (15 points, 15 rebounds) had 12 of her 15 boards in the first half.
WKU took an early lead in the first few minutes, leading by as many as three at 6:56 left in the first quarter. However, OU took advantage of its obvious advantages, dominating the Toppers with bulk down low and taking control of the game. WKU hung around in contention, cutting the Oklahoma lead down to two points with 9:05 remaining in the second quarter on a layup by Kallie Searcy. From that point, Western’s Lady Toppers were outgunned by 11 in the final nine minutes of the frame.
In the second half, the Lady Tops tried to make waves, but never came closer than seven points, ultimately losing by that margin, 90–83.
Dee Givens continues her impressive start to 2018–19, scoring 21 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Joining her in double digits, young Egyptians Raneem Elgedawy (14) and Meral Abdelgawad (17), and debuting forward Arame Niang (10) helped the Lady Tops score one more than their outing against Louisville.
Arame Niang did not see action against Louisville, but in her WKU debut, the lengthy 6'3" power forward impressed mightily.
Overall Impression
The Lady Toppers have clearly picked up where they left off from the Michelle Clark-Heard era. Greg Collins leads a more relaxed, laid-back Lady Topper program. Under Michelle Clark-Heard, the Lady Toppers were machine-like, stifling opponents with a vicious press, hardly allowing opponents to get shots off.
This version of Western Kentucky Women’s Basketball has a high-flying, breakneck pace, smooth offense from rim to rim feel. A different feel than an MCH-ran squad, the Toppers still appear to be very good and should compete for a Conference USA title.
Moving forward, WKU seems to have its offense in place. WKU will need to adjust once teams start figuring out its strengths and weaknesses. However, offense is the least of the Lady Toppers’ concerns.
Although WKU is competing with offense, the defense certainly leaves something to be desired. Including exhibition, WKU is yet to come close to holding an opponent under 70 points. WKU allowed 74 to West Virginia State, 90 to Oklahoma, and really buckled down in the fourth quarter to limit U of L to 102. For perspective, WKU allowed 74 or more points only seven times in all of 2017–18. They allowed 90 in two games total last year.
If WKU is to return to its normal dominance of Conference USA, the Lady Toppers need to ratchet up the defense exponentially. WKU can clearly score, but can they stop anyone?
Tuesday’s battle in Diddle against #13/17 Iowa should be another tough test for this young, talented team. The Lady Toppers held their own in Iowa City last year, leading by as many as 11 and allowing Iowa to take it to overtime before succumbing in the first extra period by seven.