WKU Women’s Basketball fell just short to Florida International 64-60 Saturday afternoon in Diddle Arena despite a redemptive second half.
Sophomore point guard Trinity Rowe put WKU on her back in the second half, shooting an absurd 80% from the 3-point line to collect a total of 15 points across the final two quarters. The Lady Toppers came within two with under a minute to play, but couldn’t hold on for the win.
“They competed like we were competing for a championship, knowing that we weren’t going to get to play again…I was proud of their effort,” Head Coach Greg Collins said.
Rowe finished with a game-high and season-high 24 points. Senior guard Tia Shelling and sophomore guard Salma Khedr joined Rowe in double-digits with 11 apiece.
“I know I’ve had really good first halves a lot, and the second (halves) kind of slowed down. So, it was good to see my second half get going,” Rowe said.
Suffocating defense from WKU forced eight FIU turnovers in the first quarter. The Lady Toppers took advantage, going on two five-point scoring runs to take a 14-13 lead after the period.
A hot start to the second quarter from FIU included a 12-0 scoring run that spanned over four minutes. The Panthers’ offensive success stifled the Lady Toppers’, who scored only 11 points on just 28.6% field-goal shooting in the quarter. FIU took a 32-25 lead at the half.
A back-and-forth third quarter included six-point scoring runs from both teams. Most notably, back-to-back 3-pointers from Rowe cut FIU’s lead to four with under a minute in the quarter. WKU trailed 49-43 going into the final frame.
The Lady Toppers kept their momentum going in the fourth quarter, going on a 10-0 scoring run to bring them within two. WKU had multiple chances to tie the game or take the lead, but back-to-back fumbles from redshirt sophomore forward Tatum Boettjer prevented their comeback.
WKU finishes the season with an 8-21 overall record and a 4-14 Conference USA record. Despite the underwhelming record and not qualifying for the CUSA tournament, Shelling had positive words of encouragement for her younger teammates.
“Don’t take this as a losing season. Take it like it’s a lesson. Learn from it, (and) grow from it,” she said.
