Lady Topper Hoops: Notebook — Lady Toppers Sweep the Week, Take Share of First Place
The Western Kentucky Lady Toppers have struggled mightily at certain points of the 2018–19 season. Starting out 0–4, albeit against a…
The Western Kentucky Lady Toppers have struggled mightily at certain points of the 2018–19 season. Starting out 0–4, albeit against a combination of Power 5 competition and a team that made the Sweet 16 last year (Central Michigan).
However, this past week, the Lady Toppers rattled off their most impressive week of the season, trouncing two Top 100 teams by double digits in the friendly confines of Diddle Arena.
In its opening conference games, WKU took two surprise teams in the early season, Charlotte and ODU, and made examples of them, slapping the 49ers and Monarchs by 18 and 15, respectively. Neither of those were as close as the final margin.
In the two wins, Meral Abdelgawad, Dee Givens and Raneem Elgedawy combined to average 14.5, 19.5 and 18.5, respectively. Perhaps much more importantly, WKU allowed 58 and 60 in the two contests. A much maligned defense thus far, the Lady Toppers average giving up over 76 points per game.
All told, the Lady Toppers now sit atop C-USA once again. With 14 more games, WKU has some serious work, but Western once again looks like a really solid basketball team at the most important time of the year.
News and Notes:
Alexis Brewer did not dress vs. Charlotte and did not play vs. ODU.
Dee Givens (18.6 points, three steals per game) has taken on the role of the departed Tashia Brown but is more efficient, shooting 47% (42% from three), has a nearly 2/1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and steals three balls per game.
Whitney Creech has taken an alarming step backward in 2018–19, especially from the free throw line, where she is 18–34 (.529). In her two previous seasons, Whitney shot 82% and 90% respectively. Whitney is 0–2 from three on the year. In her two other seasons, she attempted 53 total, connecting on 20 of them, a 38% clip. For the Lady Toppers to be elite, Whitney Creech must be a significant offensive contributor.
Meral Abdelgawad (10.1 points per game) has turned on her game of late. The true freshman from Egypt has raised her average 2.2 points since Dec. 1, has shot 19-of-29 from the floor in her last three games, and is averaging two steals per game in her last seven contests.
After starting the season giving up at least 90 in its first four games, WKU has since allowed that only once, against #2 Notre Dame in South Bend.
Next Time Out
WKU takes on Marshall in Diddle Saturday at 2 PM. Inexplicably, Marshall was awful in non-conference and suddenly rattled off the same two wins WKU had to start Conference USA play. This will be yet another selection process over the course of this next week. With just one game this week, WKU could squash all mojo, but a win against a Marshall team that just also beat these two opponents would confirm the Toppers even more.