Govan leads Lady Tops past Ball State, 84-59

Senior Guard/Forward Alexis Govan, of San Antonio, Texas, takes a free throw in the Lady Toppers’ game against the University of Louisville at the Yum! Center, November 25, 2014. Justin Gilliland/HERALD

Jonah Phillips

The Lady Topper basketball team has reached 10 wins before January for the sixth time in program history after dishing out a commanding 84-59 win over Ball State in Diddle Arena on Sunday.

After jumping out to a 9-7 lead in the first half, the Lady Toppers (10-2) would continue on an 18-0 run over a span of 4:26 to give themselves a 20-point cushion. WKU wouldn’t let up, peeking with a 26-point lead with just under eight minutes to play in the first half.

“That’s kind of how we play,” Head Coach Michelle Clark-Heard said. “We get off to fast starts and continue to build on leads.”

The Lady Toppers ended the first half with a 19-point lead of 46-27.

The second half was a closer matchup between the two sides, with WKU outscoring Ball State by just six points at 38-32 for a final score of 84-59.

Ball State (4-6) shot just 36.7 percent for the game and allowed WKU to post a 57.4 percent clip from the field. The Lady Toppers had 20 assists on 31 made field goals and 10 three-pointers. 

Senior Alexis Govan led the Lady Toppers with 21 points. 

Govan entered the top-20 all-time career scoring list in WKU history in the win. Govan finished the game 8-9, shooting 3-3 from behind the arc. She also chipped in three rebounds and two assists.

“Every day I’m just getting more and more confident,” Govan said. “Just being out there with my team — they encourage me a lot — I have to give them credit for my confidence.”

“Thats one of the biggest things we try to do as a coaching staff– absorb confidence into our players,” Head Coach Michelle Clark-Heard said. “It gets easier to do when you go on runs and are able to do different things individually, and I think they bought into those different things. 

Kendall Noble provided balance for the Lady Toppers, notching 13 points, five rebounds, nine assists and four steals.

WKU had in total four players with double-digit points– Govan with 21, senior Chastity Gooch with 14, Noble and freshman Tashia Brown with 13. 

“I was proud because a lot of the things we had been working on in practice, I saw on the floor,” Head Coach Michelle Clark-Heard said. “As a coach that’s exactly what you want.”

The Lady Toppers next game and last non-conference matchup of the season is against Belmont December 29th in Nashville.