Hilltopper athletics had a very successful week with great performances in mens and women’s basketball, tennis and track and field.

WKU Men’s Basketball

Men’s basketball (11-6, CUSA 3-3) had two huge conference wins during the week. The Hilltoppers kicked off the week with a huge road test against the UAB Blazers. WKU, led by an outstanding 27 point performance from junior Dayvion Mcknight, took down the Blazers in a 80-78 thriller. 

The Hilltoppers carried the momentum into their Saturday evening match-up against the FIU panthers. Another great showing for Mcknight put the Hilltoppers over the Panthers 70-59. WKU will look to extend their three game win streak against the FAU Owls Monday, January 17th at E.A. Diddle Arena. 

WKU Women’s Basketball

Women’s basketball (7-8, CUSA 4-2) also picked up two big C-USA wins over the week. WKU started their week with an important contest against the UAB Blazers. A 19 point performance from sophomore Mya Meredith gave the Lady Toppers the edge to beat the Blazers, 75-71.

WKU continued their winning ways on the road against the FIU Panthers. Sophomore Alexis Mead led the Lady toppers with 19 points on the way to a 75-71 win.

The Lady Toppers will look to keep the wins coming on the road against FAU Monday, January 16th. 

WKU Tennis

The WKU Tennis team (1-0) opened up their season with a road victory against the Bellarmine Knights. The Lady toppers began with a slow start against the Knights. WKU lost the doubles point to fall behind 1-0. 

The slow start carried over into singles play. The Lady Toppers dropped the first two singles matches to fall into a dangerous 3-0 deficit. However, WKU fought back. Four straight singles wins carried the Lady Toppers to a great comeback win 4-3. 

Sofia Blanco, Rachel Hermanova, Sunskrithi Damera, and Mariana Zegada were the four to collect wins in the match. The Lady Toppers will look to continue the strong start against the Chattanooga Mocs Friday, January 20th. 

WKU Track and Field

WKU Track and Field opened up its season with a successful showing at the Commodore Invitational. The Hilltoppers had two top-five finishers on the first day of the competition. 

Senior multi-sport athlete Katie Isanbarger finished fifth in the high jump with a score of 1.73m (5-8). Senior thrower Brett Brannon placed fifth for the weight throw with a score of 18.08 (59-4). Sophomore Demetrius Rolle continued the Hilltopper successes into the second day of competition. He placed fifth in the 60m with a time of 6.81. 

WKU also had a good performance in the 4×400 relay. The team placed sixth with a time of 3:20.81. The team will be back in action at the Bellarmine open on Friday, January 20th.