WKU got revenge for regular season losses against North Texas on Wednesday, beating the Mean Green 3-1 in its first game at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

The No. 5-seed Lady Toppers move on to play No. 1-seed Louisiana-Lafayette at 5:30 p.m. CST at the tournament in Boca Raton, Fla.

Head Coach Tyra Perry said she was happy with the effort of sophomore pitcher Emily Rousseau and her defense that surrendered just one run in their first tournament game.

“(Rousseau) did a great job taking command from the first inning,” Perry said. “She attacked each batter and hit her spots.”

The defense also did a good job of making the plays it was supposed to make, she said.

“Our infield and outfield did a good job of making the routine plays and even made some not so routine plays and we want to keep that going,” Perry said.

The lone run Rousseau gave up was in the first inning when she gave up a sac fly with a runner on third. Rousseau gave up three hits Wednesday and struck out six.

With the team down 1-0 early junior outfielder Katrina Metoyer’s second-inning at bat drove in the go-ahead run. Metoyer hit a two-RBI triple to put the Lady Toppers up 2-1.

Metoyer said that even though she was excited to come up to the plate for that at-bat, she tired her best to remain calm.

“I didn’t want to have a whole lot of movement going on,” she said. “I just made sure I was breathing and told myself to play relaxed like it was any other game.”

Metoyer said going into that run-producing at-bat that, though she had been making solid contact, she hadn’t been getting as many hits as she would like.

“The balls I have been hitting have been hit right at players so it was great to have a deep line drive,” she said.

Sophomore outfielder Kelsie Mattox added an insurance run in the sixth with an RBI, providing the necessary offense for Rousseau.

Perry stayed at the ballpark after the game to watch ULL and Florida Atlantic, knowing WKU would face the winner of that game.

The Ragin’ Cajuns beat the No. 8-seed Owls 7-1.

WKU and ULL met on April 28 and 29 in Bowling Green, with the Ragin’ Cajuns winning all three games.

Perry said her team needs to “do the same things, except win this time.”

She also said that having a shorter time to prepare for the next game doesn’t really present a challenge at his point in the season.

“We played them three times, so you kind of know what you’re getting into,” she said. “We watch a lot of video before and after so we know what to expect.”

But before taking on ULL she said the team wants to enjoy this first victory for a moment.

“We’re celebrating the way we can at least, there’s no going absolute crazy,” she said. “We’re enjoying the time we have together in Florida so we’re enjoying it right now.”