The Lady Toppers will have a little extra motivation when they host Arkansas-Little Rock at 2 p.m. Sunday.

It was the Trojans that kept WKU from the NCAA Tournament one year ago, dealing the Lady Toppers a 66-59 loss in the Sun Belt Championship Game.

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Freshman guard Alexis Govan was a high school senior last March during that game, but said she sensed during practice this week how much the loss meant to the WKU players still around from last year’s team.

“Just by how hard the upperclassmen worked, you can tell that there was something inside that was really motivating,” Govan said.

UALR is once again looking like one of the top teams in the league.

The Trojans are 4-2 in league play despite having to replace Chastity Reed, the 2011 Sun Belt Student-Athlete of the Year.

UALR has filled that void with freshman Taylor Gault, who’s currently fifth in Sun Belt scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game.

“She’s really good, and they’ve got a lot of confidence in her,” Head Coach Mary Taylor Cowles said of Gault. “I think that’s really obvious to see when you watch them on film.”

UALR has also gotten contributions this season from center Marian Kursh (12.9 ppg and 8.2 rebounds per game) and guard Taylor Ford (3.6 assists per game).

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Meanwhile WKU comes into Sunday’s game winners of five straight in Diddle Arena including its last win, a 71-58 defeat of Tennessee Tech Tuesday,

The Lady Toppers played maybe their best game of the season in that win, notching their highest offensive output of the year.

Cowles said she hopes that non-conference win gives her WKU team confidence as they get back into Sun Belt action Sunday.

“Right now they want to play basketball,” Cowles said. “That’s what their mindset is.”