WKU Women’s Basketball (19-13, CUSA 14-6) lost in the title game of the C-USA tournament to the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders (28-4, CUSA 18-2) 82-70 on Saturday, March 11 at The Ford Center in Frisco, Texas.

Freshman guard Acacia Hayes continued her great tournament play in the loss. Hayes led the team in scoring with 15 and shot a nice 5-7 from the field.

Sophomore guard Alexis Mead also played well in the contest. Mead scored 9 points and grabbed five rebounds. She was also effective passing the ball with four assists. 

Both teams battled closely throughout the first quarter. WKU held the biggest lead of the quarter, 11-7, with six minutes to play. MTSU answered in the last five minutes of the period, outscoring the Lady Toppers 8-4 making it 15-15 at the break. 

MTSU took control of the game in the second quarter. WKU scored the first three points of the period, but the Blue Raiders followed with a 15-4 run to go up eight, 30-22. MTSU continued to dominate the second. They outscored WKU 17-9 in the last five minutes of the half, taking a 47-31 lead into the locker room. 

MTSU’s dominance carried over into the second half. In what was a low-scoring quarter, the Blue Raiders took their biggest lead of the game, 58-38, with two minutes left in the period. WKU cut their deficit back to 15; however, a bucket at the buzzer halted the Lady Topper momentum, putting MTSU up 63-46. 

The fourth quarter was more of the same. MTSU dominated and went up as much as 21 in the quarter, 79-58. WKU played their best ball of the game in the final four minutes of the second half. 

WKU outscored the Blue Raiders 12-3 in the final stretch, but it was too late as MTSU won 82-70. 

The loss ended the Lady Toppers’ run in the C-USA tournament. WKU’s season will continue in the WNIT.

Sports reporter Jake McMahon can be reached at [email protected].