WKU women’s basketball knocked off rival Middle Tennessee State University 76-60 on Thursday, improving its record to 19-6, 10-2 in Conference USA play.

WKU never trailed in the game, and led the entire way after breaking a 3-3 tie. Dee Givens led the way with 19 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and two assists. 

“I’m just really proud of our team, you know this was a big-time win,” head coach Michelle Clark-Heard said in a postgame radio interview. “We just did a lot of good things … so many different people stepped up for us.”

WKU got a big contribution from Ivy Brown in the first quarter, as she scored seven of the team’s 17 points in the opening quarter on 2-of-2 shooting from 3-point range. WKU used a 7-0 run in the quarter to take a 17-10 lead into the second quarter. 

MTSU opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to one, but would be outscored 23-13 the rest of the half, which gave WKU a 40-29 lead at halftime. Dee Givens had nine points in the quarter, including a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining to end the half. 

WKU put together an 8-0 run early in the second half to stretch its lead to 48-30. That run helped WKU extend its lead to 14 at the end of the third as they held a 59-45 lead. 

The Lady Toppers held serve in the fourth quarter and finished the game with that same 14-point margin, winning 76-60. WKU will play Marshall on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Diddle Arena. 

Sports editor Jeremy Chisenhall can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @JSChisenhall.