WKU Women’s Basketball could not shake Miami (OH)’s shooting masterclass in its 80-53 road loss Sunday afternoon. 

The RedHawks shot 57.7% from the floor and 50% from beyond the arc. The Lady Toppers’ lack of consistent perimeter shooting came back to bite them. WKU’s 39.2% field-goal and 27.3% three-point shooting on 22 attempts came up short.

“Defensively, we worked on making sure we covered those three-point shooters, and we were just late,” Collins said. “We were watching, and we weren’t moving fast enough to get out there.”

Miami’s efficient shooting started from the get-go. The RedHawks shot 6-7 from three and 10-15 from the field in the first quarter. High-quality ball movement from Miami also meant that every made field goal in the period was made possible by an assist. Nine turnovers from WKU prevented the Lady Toppers from establishing any offensive rhythm early.

Sophomore Trinity Rowe earned her first start since Nov. 5 after returning from a hand injury. The point guard played the most minutes among the Lady Toppers with 28 and scored three points on a made three-pointer.

Two scoring runs by Miami in the second quarter brought the RedHawks to a 50-29 lead at halftime. The RedHawks converted their high-quality offense into suffocating defense, holding the Lady Toppers to 0-4 three-point shooting in the quarter.

Senior forward Jeniffer Silva led WKU’s otherwise shaky offense in the third quarter. She scored six of the Lady Toppers’ 11 points in the period. She finished as WKU’s leading scorer with 13 points on 6-7 shooting.

Miami outscored WKU 16-13 in the fourth quarter to hand the Lady Toppers their second consecutive loss.

WKU will travel to Grand Forks to face North Dakota Sunday, Dec. 14.