Clark-Heard Postgame Interview | Brown and Brown Postgame Interview
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Seniors Tashia and Ivy Brown shined in their final outing inside E.A. Diddle Arena on Friday evening, combining for 52 points and leading WKU to a perfect home record in C-USA play with an 83-61 wire-to-wire victory over Charlotte on Senior Night.
C-USA Player of the Year candidate Tashia Brown finished with a career-best 38 points on 14-of-29 shooting from the field, tallying the fifth-most points in a single game in program history. Despite getting into early foul trouble, Ivy Brown notched 14 points and knocked down three of her four three-pointers for the Lady Toppers (21-6, 12-2 C-USA).
Raneem Elgedawy (12) and Dee Givens (11) rounded out the quartet of Lady Toppers in double figures. As a team, WKU shot 44.6 percent (29-of-65) from the field and was 20-of-24 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe. Defensively, the Lady Toppers held Charlotte to just 23-of-62 shooting (37.1 percent) on the night.
WKU finished the 2017-18 regular season with an 11-1 record inside Diddle Arena, its lone home loss coming against perennial national championship contender Notre Dame on Nov. 14.
Nyilah Jamison-Myers led Charlotte (12-14, 8-5 C-USA) with 14 points and eight rebounds and was joined in double figures by Laia Raventos (11) and Mariah Linney (10).
WKU jumped out to a five-point advantage early in the first quarter after two straight jumpers by Tashia Brown, but a three-pointer from Raventos pulled the 49ers back within one possession at the 4:39 mark. The Lady Toppers continued to push the tempo, growing their lead to as many as nine points on two different occasions before finishing the first frame with a 22-15 lead.
The Lady Toppers took their first double-digit edge of the night on a free throw by Whitney Creech early in the second quarter and maintained that lead through the halftime break, carrying a 43-26 lead into the locker room after Sidnee Bopp knocked down a triple on WKU's final offensive possession of the half.
WKU's lead continued to grow throughout the third quarter, and a 9-0 run by the Lady Toppers midway through the frame pushed the lead to 59-35. Tashia and Ivy Brown combined to score seven of the nine points during the stretch, and Ivy Brown's three-pointer with 3:32 on the clock gave WKU its 24-point lead, the largest of the night to that point.
Over the final 10 minutes of play, WKU's lead reached 27 points on Elgedawy's three-point play with 6:21 remaining, and the Lady Toppers held off the 49ers down the stretch to claim the 83-61 win.
WKU will close out the 2017-18 regular season on the road at Southern Miss and UTEP next week, taking on the Golden Eagles in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. before traveling to El Paso, Texas, to battle the Miners on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The Lady Toppers have already secured a first-round bye in next month's C-USA Tournament hosted at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
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