Lady Topper Hoops: Notebook — Lady Tops Continue to Roll, Prepare for Rice
This week was not as easy for the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers. Before stumbling to Southern Miss on January 24, WKU was absolutely…
This week was not as easy for the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers. Before stumbling to Southern Miss on January 24, WKU was absolutely trouncing its opponents. Make no mistake: Things are still fine in Lady Topper land. WKU sits tied for second with a chance Thursday to create a tie for first against the Rice Owls.
WKU (14–9, 8–1 C-USA) found itself in a little bit of trouble against one of its inferior road opponents this past week. The Tops took on UTSA Thursday in a 81–62 victory in the shadows of the Alamo. WKU had a 28 point lead at one point. However, Western struggled mightily with UTEP. Perhaps altitude or just being a little tired affected the Tops, but WKU eked out a 64–61 escape in El Paso.
Thursday, January 31: at UTSA; WKU Wins 81–62
In typical Lady Topper fashion, WKU won every important quarter, building as much as a 29 point lead, before surrendering ten of that margin to win in a game that seemed much worse than its final margin. As a team, WKU was 21-for-35 from two and 8-for-12 from three in the first half.
Dee Givens (25 points, five steals) paced the Tops as usual. Phenom Egyptians Raneem Elgedawy (16 points) and Meral Abdelgawad (13 points) were their usual impressive selves. Sherry Porter (11 points) continued her hot streak of late, joining the other three consistent performers in double digits.
WKU made its hay in this game by forcing 23 turnovers, only surrendering ten themselves. Consequently, despite shooting a few percentage points higher than the Tops, UTSA attempted 19 less shots.
Saturday, February 2: at UTEP; WKU Wins, 64–61
In a surprising struggle, Western Kentucky had to grind out a road win against a UTEP team with one conference win more than halfway through the season. In a bizarre back-and-forth battle, UTEP found some magic that’s been very rare in their troubled season.
All told, UTEP and WKU bounced the lead back-and-forth all night. With seven ties and eight lead changes (a majority of which occurred in the fourth quarter), this was anyone’s game. WKU and UTEP scored exactly the same in the first and third frames. WKU led early at 12–2, and UTEP led by 12 in the second quarter. Other than those two moments, it was a tight affair.
Tied at 51 with 4:50 remaining, UTEP snagged control of the game until the final minute. The Miners stretched it to as many as five in the next four minutes. Dee Givens missed a free throw shot to tie the game with 38 seconds remaining, but got her own rebound and drew another foul two seconds later. Dee made her two shots, and WKU led for a few seconds.
UTEP’s Ariona Gill finished off a quality possession with a layup to retake the lead for the Miners with 15 seconds left. After a short timeout break, WKU got the ball to Elgedawy, who made a quick jumper. WKU made two more free throws after a UTEP turnover. UTEP had another opportunity to tie at the buzzer, but it fell short and the Tops ultimately found a way at altitude on the road.
WKU struggled massively in almost every way against UTEP. WKU was 3-for-23 from behind the arc, shot less than 40% overall, and had four key players in foul trouble. Dee Givens (26 points, four steals), Raneem Elgedawy (27 points, ten rebounds, three steals), and Whitney Creech (six points, five assists, three steals) were almost literally WKU’s only production. The rest of the roster provided five points, eight rebounds, seven steals, and committed 12 fouls on 2-for-19 shooting and 0-for-13 on three pointers.
At the end of the day, WKU’s role players (besides Creech) played about as bad as they could and WKU still found a way against a team shooting 52.5% from the floor.
Facts and Figures
After starting the season with horrific defense, giving up well over 90 points per game, the Lady Toppers now give up a respectable 72.7 points per game.
Dee Givens can nearly match half of her opponents’ steals per game on her own. Dee has 69 steals, while WKU’s opponents have 148 total swipes on the season.
Sherry Porter has shown significant improvement in her sophomore year. Porter is about to pass her 2017–18 output with ten games left to play in most categories. She has noticeably improving her shooting from all areas, ability to drive, and is staying out of foul trouble. She has already surpassed her freshman campaign in points, field goal attempts, three pointers, free throws, blocks, and assists.
Alexis Brewer continues to struggle with consistency. Much like Jared Savage on the men’s team, Brewer is a significant contributor, plays significant minutes, is a good looking shooter, but is extremely inefficient from the floor and does not contribute significantly defensively. Brewer hits less than one-third of her threes and barely shoots 35% from the floor overall. Alexis has battled a shoulder injury all year.
Whitney Creech is truly struggling to find herself on the basketball court this season. The former 5,000 point scorer from Jenkins, Kentucky, shoots 38% from the field, has only attempted four three point shots, and makes 50% free throws. For perspective, Whit averaged over 40%, over 35% from three, and shot over 80% from the charity stripe. Her 2018–19 results are simply inexplicable.
Next Time Out
WKU takes on Rice and North Texas in Bowling Green this week. Rice is the lone undefeated team in Conference USA women’s basketball, is 18–3 overall, and is a legitimate threat to any team in the country. With several Rice players near locks for All-Conference, the Lady Toppers better be ready to go Thursday.
North Texas is no slouch for Saturday’s match-up, either. UNT is around a .500 basketball team, but possesses plenty of talent and firepower to give the Tops trouble. With two victories, WKU would finish the week in at least a tie for first place.