Can Western Kentucky Lady Toppers Bounce Back at Murphy Athletic Center?
The Western Kentucky Lady Toppers faced a challenging contest against the Sam Houston Bearkats, ending in an 81-87 defeat. The Lady Toppers' record now stands at 0-1, while the Bearkats move to 1-0. Despite a hard-fought game that pushed into overtime, the Western Kentucky squad couldn't clinch the victory.
The Bernard Johnson Coliseum witnessed an intense battle where the Lady Toppers showed resilience and determination. They started strong with 17 points in the first quarter and maintained their momentum by adding another 21 points in both the second and third quarters. However, they seemed to lose some steam as they scored only 13 points in the fourth quarter before pushing for nine additional points in overtime.
Western Kentucky's offense was led by their precision from two-point range, hitting an impressive 56 percent of their attempts. Their overall field goal percentage stood at a solid 47 percent with successful execution on both sides of the court resulting in a total of 36 points scored inside the paint. The team also capitalized on turnovers, scoring 16 points off their opponents' mistakes.
On defense, however, there were struggles as they managed only seven steals and two blocks throughout the game. The personal foul count was high for Western Kentucky at twenty-four fouls committed which contributed to giving away free throw opportunities to Sam Houston who capitalized by making twenty-one free throws.
The Bearkats had a slightly lower field goal percentage than Western Kentucky at forty-three percent but outperformed them from beyond the arc with twelve three-pointers made contributing to their forty-one percent three-point shooting accuracy. They also excelled in fast-break situations scoring seventeen fast break points compared to six by Western Kentucky.
Sam Houston's ability to draw fouls proved advantageous as they attempted thirty-one free throws compared to fourteen attempts by Western Kentucky and made sixty-eight percent of those shots from charity stripe which ultimately helped them secure their win despite committing one more turnover than WKU.
Looking ahead for fans of WKU basketball: The next challenge awaits when they visit Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at Murphy Athletic Center located in Murfreesboro on February third scheduled for a two o'clock tip-off central time zone. Fans can catch all action live ensuring not miss any moment this anticipated matchup between conference rivals.