Last time out, the Lady Toppers fell to Denver at home, 51-50, in a loss Head Coach Mary Taylor Cowles called “disgusting.” WKU (5-9, 2-1 SBC) tries to rebound Saturday when it hosts North Texas, and beat writer Cole Claybourn will be courtside for all the action.

FINAL: Lady Tops 69, North Texas 64

The Lady Tops hang on in this one. Look for more at wkuherald.com later.

21.5 Lady Tops 69, North Texas 64

North Texas misses a 3-pointer and Hope Brown is now going to the line to shoot two. She hits both.

34.3 Lady Tops 67, North Texas 64

Desiree Nelson makes one of two free-throws, but Jasmine Godbolt gets the rebound and a foul and will go to the line to shoot two. She makes one of two and Hope Brown gets the rebound. Amy McNear to the line now. McNear misses both and the ball is loose. The Lady Toppers come up with it and McNear heads back to the line. She misses both again. Four misses from the line in a row from McNear.

1:11 Lady Tops 67, North Texas 62

North Texas looks to be turning up the energy to make a last-minute comeback. Looks like the Lady Tops are stepping up their defense as well. They caused a jump ball to get the ball back.

4:48 Lady Tops 63, North Texas 58

The Mean Green stormed back to trim the lead to three before a couple of Amy McNear free-throws.

6:39 Lady Tops 61, North Texas 53

Double technical fouls were given to Arnika Brown and North Texas’ Tamar Torru after they battled for position under the basket. 

9:12 Lady Tops 57, North Texas 51

The Lady Tops go on a 7-2 run since the last media timeout and now have the momentum. Timeout called by North Texas.

11:37 Lady Tops 50, North Texas 49

The Lady Toppers took the lead again with 13:35 left to play after a LaTeira Owens lay-up. The bigger news is that Amy McNear is now back on the floor, but with a knee brace on. Seems to be running fine.

14:57 North Texas 43, Lady Tops 41

The Lady Tops took their first lead since scoring the first two baskets after a Teranie Thomas lay-up with 18:20 left to play. But North Texas came right back down and hit a 3-pointer to give North Texas a two-point lead, 40-38. The Lady Toppers added a free-throw and a basket by LaTeira Owens to take a one-point lead again. But like earlier, North Texas answered with another 3-pointer to take a 43-41 lead.

After a scuffle under the basket, Amy McNear fell to the ground and looks to be in considerable pain, grabbing her knee. 

Halftime: North Texas 35, Lady Tops 32

Two huge blocks by LaTeira Owens gave the Lady Tops some momentum. McNear saved the second one from going out of bounds and then found Arnika Brown on the other end to score. The Lady Tops got the ball back off of another turnover, but Brown was called for a double-dribble. North Texas turned that in to a basket.

1:24 North Texas 33, Lady Tops 29

Lady Toppers go on a 7-2 run since the last timeout, capped off by a Janae Howard 3-pointer that forced North Texas to take a timeout.

3:39 North Texas 31, Lady Tops 22

Lady Tops still hanging around despite shooting 38.5 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from the free-throw line (1-6). North Texas is 50 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from the free-throw line.

7:46 North Texas 24, Lady Tops 16

Turnovers are really plaguing the Lady Toppers so far. After scoring five straight points, turnovers allowed North Texas to keep the separation. The Lady Tops have eight turnovers so far, three by point guard Amy McNear.

12:37 North Texas 18, Lady Tops 8

North Texas goes on an 11-0 run, forcing three Lady Topper turnovers. Janae Howard and Keisha Mosley are now in the game for the Lady Tops. The big story so far has been North Texas’ ability to create turnovers and score on fast breaks. They’ve now forced six turnovers and have eight fast-break points.

15:11 North Texas 9, Lady Tops 8

It took three seconds for the Lady Toppers to get on the board. Amy McNear found Teranie Thomas streaking to the basket immediately after the tip-off. Good start for her in her first start in a WKU uniform. She has four points so far to lead WKU, but North Texas has turned both WKU turnovers in to points.

Pregame: 

Starting Lineup – Amy McNear, Teranie Thomas, Hope Brown, LaTeira Owens, Arnika Brown.