The WKU women’s basketball team hosts Northwestern in its home opener Thursday night at 7 p.m. Follow along with the Herald’s live-blog coverage from Diddle Arena.

– FINAL: Northwestern 61, Lady Toppers 54.

– Means fouls out after turnover and Northwestern hits both free throws. Hope Brown misses a three and Northwestern has the rebound. They go back to the line and hit both free throws.

– Means called for a block and Northwestern hits one of two. Janae Howard scores on the other end. Lady Toppers down 57-54 with 42.6 left to play.

– Chaney Means finds Janae Howard under the basket for two, but Northwestern answers back. Howard then called for an offensive foul. Lady Toppers down 56-52 with 1:52 left in the game.

– Jaeschke is back in for Northwestern. Lady Toppers couldn’t capitalize while she was on the bench. They cut the lead to one, but still trail 54-50 with 3:03 left to play.

– Northwestern’s foul trouble is getting worse. Tailor Jones, who had nine points and five rebounds, just fouled out, and Jaeschke and Kendall Hackney both have four.

– Northwestern is still hanging on to their lead. Now leading 51-46 with just over five minutes left to play.

– Keisha Mosley picks up her third foul with 7:06 left to play. Mosley has six points and 10 rebounds. Teranie Thomas also has three fouls.

– Arnika Brown leads the Lady Toppers with 10 points and six rebounds with 7:56 left to play, but they still trail 44-40. 

– Lady Toppers refusing to take the lead. They’ve cut it within one several times but are now down by four with just over eight minutes left.

– Mosley muscles her way inside and draws Jaeschke’s fourth foul with 11:56 left to play. She’ll have to sit and that could be the big break the Lady Toppers needed.

– Jaeschke just picked up her third foul and Northwestern was called for a lane violation. Still down 37-36 with 12:14 to play and could be gaining some momentum.

– Lady Toppers haven’t been down more than three points in the second half. Down 37-36 with 12:14 left to play.

– Timeout at 15:00 and Northwestern is up 35-32. Jaeschke with 13 points for the game.

– Jaeschke back in to start the second half for Northwestern and they go right to her. Mosley answers on the other end but Northwestern scores again. 33-30 with 18:07 left.

– Northwestern center Amy Jaeschke had nine quick points and four rebounds for the Wildcats, but only played seven minutes in the first half after picking up two early fouls.

– Lady Toppers held Northwestern to just one rebound in the last five minutes of the first half and are now out-rebounding the Wildcats 20-19.

– Lady Toppers use a 21-6 run to end the first half and now trail 29-28. Scored four points in the last four seconds on free throws. They forced a turnover with 1.3 seconds left and Janae Howard hit a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded that would’ve given the Lady Toppers a 31-29 lead going in to halftime, but the referees determined that the shot came after the buzzer.

– Lady Toppers now on a 14-6 run. Down 29-21 after a timeout with 1:33 left to play in the first half.

– Huge 13-4 run capped off by a Janae Howard three-pointer has the Lady Toppers back in this game. Down 27-20 with 3:24 left to play in first half.

– Northwestern 27, Lady Toppers 15 with 5:02 left in first play. Lady Toppers still struggling to find offensive rhythm. Getting out-rebounded 18-12.

– Mosley misses two free throws and it’s still 22-7 Northwestern with 7 minutes left.

– Both teams are now in the bonus with just over 8 minutes to play in the first half. Northwestern up 22-7.

– Northwestern is currently on a 13-0 run that’s stretched nearly six minutes.

– Northwestern is now 7-13 (3-4 from three-point range) and are now up 15, 20-5 with 11:48 left to play in the first half.

– Jaeschke leads all scorers with 9 and Northwestern has stretched the lead to 15-5 with 13 minutes left.

– After a Keisha Mosley technical foul call, Northwestern took a 9-2 lead. A Janae Howard 3-pointer cut the lead to four with 15:30 left in the first half.

– Timeout at 17:21 mark and it’s tied 2-2. Keisha Mosley scored on the Lady Toppers’ first possession and Northwestern’s Amy Jaeschke answered on the the other end.

Starting lineup for tonight’s game:

Junior forward Keisha Mosley, freshman guard Chaney Means, senior guard Hope Brown, sophomore forward Janae Howard, junior forward LaTeira Owens