WKU Women’s Basketball sits dead last in Conference USA standings.
There are only nine more games left to play for the season, and the Lady Toppers are looking at a 1-8 conference record and a 5-15 overall record as of Feb. 5. What’s gone wrong after such a successful 2024-25 season, and who stands on a team that’s struggled so much?
Offense: D-
On the whole, the Lady Toppers’ offense leaves much to be desired. The team lacks depth on the perimeter and in the paint. Its biggest issue is shot selection.
WKU has attempted 1,068 field goals this season, the fewest in all of CUSA. Perimeter shooting is another weakness for the team. Specifically, it lacks a consistent 3-point shooter.
Sophomore guard Trinity Rowe shoots well from the perimeter, but she’s primarily a facilitator, not a shooter. Rowe averages 4.9 assists a game and has a 2.36 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is one of the highest in CUSA. Senior forward Zsofia Telegdy is another asset for the team’s perimeter shooting, but she plays all around the court offensively.
Redshirt sophomore forward Tatum Boettjer seemed like a 3-point threat at the beginning of the season, but she’s not a consistent player. When she’s playing well, Boettjer is on fire from the 3-point line. The issue is, she’s not always playing well. In eight separate games, Boettjer shot 0% from three. Boettjer hasn’t had a double-digit scoring game since the January 4 game against Kennesaw State.
Without a go-to perimeter player, the team doesn’t have a strong option when penetrating the interior defense isn’t an option.
Another problem plaguing WKU is its turnovers. The team’s turnover margin is -0.95, which places it eighth in CUSA rankings out of twelve teams. While its not the worst in the conference for turnovers, ranking sixth, those turnovers have a lot of effect on a team that consistently struggles to score.
The team’s free-throw shooting is another crack in the foundation. The Lady Toppers struggle to draw fouls on its drives, ranking 12th in CUSA. Partnering that with its 66.9% free throw percentage, it means they lose a lot of opportunities for second-chance points.
Offensive MVP: Salma Khedr
Sophomore guard Salma Khedr is my MVP for this season’s offensive effort. Across her 18 games this season, Khedr has averaged 10.1 points per game, which makes her the only Lady Topper to average double-digit points.
She’s also put up the second most total points, second only to Telegdy who played two more games than Khedr.
On the court, Khedr shoots with confidence, which is something most of the team lacks. Her ability to drive with intention is one of the team’s biggest offensive assets. Khedr just plays like someone who’s ready for college basketball, and the rest of the team doesn’t always seem like they’re on the same level.
Khedr does have some issues with turning over the ball, but the whole team has that issue. It’s hard to find a player with consistent minutes on the Lady Toppers that doesn’t have a high number of turnovers.
It was a tight competition between Rowe and Khedr, but Rowe has missed so many games that it didn’t feel right for me to call her the MVP.
Defense: D+
WKU’s defense is an improvement over its offense, but that’s not a ringing endorsement.
The team ranks ninth in CUSA’s overall rankings, allowing 65.4. At the beginning of the season, its defensive efforts saved the team from falling to opponents like Wichita State.
But, the Lady Toppers defense has taken a step down since then, progressively the cracks in the defense’s foundation have grown. Issues like excessive turnovers and poor rebounding have permeated the team’s playstyle and kept them from success on multiple occasions.
Rebounding has been the clearest issue in recent memory. The team doesn’t lack the ability to get boards, as they were out-rebounding opponents at the season’s beginning, but they seem to lack the motivation.
Despite being slightly better than its offense, WKU’s defense is far from perfect.
Defensive: Torri James
Sophomore forward Torri James came from nowhere this season. After playing a total of 53 minutes during her first season with WKU, James has been a real asset for this team.
Aside from her offensive strength, James is a strong rebounder who scraps to get the ball. James’s stats don’t do her performance on the court justice. She’s a threat in the paint despite often being outsized by her opponents.
Overall MVP: Zsofia Telegdy
Telegdy has been the cornerstone of the Lady Toppers this season. She plays with poise and confidence on both sides of the ball. Telegdy is the closest thing the team has to a go-to player. She’s played all 20 games this season and averaged 9.1 points and 4.7 rebounds on 27.3 minutes.
Going into this season, Telegdy was one of the eldest players on this team. As a senior who got decent playing time last season, I expected her to be something of a leader for this team. She didn’t disappoint in that department.
She’s been the team’s strongest presence. Without her, I think the team would’ve faltered even more. Telegdy is the clear MVP for this team in my mind. She can score, rebound and pass, and her fundamentals are among the strongest on the team.
Malone’s Overall Grade: D+
The Lady Toppers aren’t a bad team, but they’re definitely a team that’s performed poorly. There’s a lot of potential with the players they have, but that potential is highly unrealized.
For the team to succeed, they need to improve on all sides of the ball. Shooting, rebounding, passing, turning the ball over and boxing-out are the main areas I think they need to put a lot of effort into.
