Eli Randolph

Greg Collins, WKU women’s basketball head coach talk with his team after a close loss on Thursday, Jan. 18.

Crunch time approaches as the Lady Toppers look to rebound from a rough road stretch on Wednesday, when they host the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters at Diddle Arena. 

After starting 4-1 in conference play, WKU has dropped three straight games and four of their last five to fall to 4-4 in conference play, dropping to fourth behind Liberty.  With eight games left before the conference tournament, it’s becoming paramount that the team finishes strong if they wish to snag the conference’s top seed.  The stretch starts with WKU’s annual Play4Kay Pink Game, where they will host LA Tech. 

The Lady Techsters sit in eighth place in the conference.  They are led by senior forward Anna Larr Roberson, who averages 12.6 and 5.5 rebounds per game.  The Lady Techsters average 63.3 points per game as a team but allow 63.6 per game to opponents. 

The Lady Toppers will combat this with a pair of guards averaging 15.1 points per game: Junior Destiny Salary and sophomore Acacia Hayes.  Hayes is second in the conference in points scored and third in points per game. 

The Lady Toppers average 10.4 steals per game and force 19.51 turnovers, which is good for first and second in the conference.  Junior guard Alexis Mead leads the team, averaging two steals per game.  

WKU’s defense has showcased their ability to stop teams, especially since they’ve entered conference play, but the real struggle has been closing games out.  They held FIU close until the third quarter, where they pulled away, Sam Houston overcame an 18-point deficit to win in overtime, and Middle Tennessee State dominated.  The defense for WKU will have to show up when it matters most. 

The game will be Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m. CT.  It can be watched on ESPN +