Nov. 11, 2000
Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky vs. Premier All-Stars
E.A. Diddle Arena (11,300)
FINAL SCORE: Western Kentucky 88 , Premier All-Stars 73
RECORDS: Western Kentucky "Lady Toppers" -- 0-0 Overall, 0-0 Sun Belt Conference / 2-0 Exhibition play Premier All-Stars -- 1-6 Overall
PLAY-BY-PLAY HIGHLIGHTS: First Half -- Western scored the first five points of the game, and 10 of the first 12 taking a 10-2 lead at 17:26 on a Natalie Powers jumper...After a Jill Snavely jumper at 17:05 makes it 10-4, WKU goes on a 9-3 run over the next 2:53, increasing its lead to 12 (19-7) on a layup by Leah Lineberry at 14:12...Western used another 10-2 run over 2:53 to gain its long lead of the half at 21 points (31-10) on a Aja Brown jumper at 9:22...WKU maintained a double-digit lead until Rosalyn Barker's layup at 2:09 cut the lead to 9 points (40-31)...Premier outscored Western 7-1 over the next 1:34 to cut the lead to 3 (41-38) with 25 seconds remaining on a three by Lisa Cline...Two free throws by ShaRae Mansfield with 7 seconds left ended the scoring and gave Western a five point lead at the intermission (43-38)...Mansfield led Western with 14 points and 13 rebounds at the half...Shamele Stines led Premier with 11 points.
Second Half -- WKU had its lead cut to 2 (46-44) at the 18:08 mark on a jumper by Angela Bray. That would be the closest Premier would come the rest of the game...Western used a 12-4 run over the next 5:13 to increase the lead to 12 (60-48) with 12:55 to play on a layup by Mansfield...The second half lead climbed as high as 16 points wit 8:28 remaining (67-51) on a three by Camryn Whitaker..Premier used a 14-1 run over the next 3:18, pulling within 3 (68-65) on a jumper by Cline...a three by Jamie Truitt with 4:53 remaining sparked an 11-4 run over the next 2:44, bringing the lead to 12 points (79-67) on a free throw by Whitaker with 2:26 remaining...Western built the lead to 15 points on three occasions in the final 2 minutes, the last on a Brown layup with six seconds remaining for the final margin.
COACHES' QUOTES: WKU Head Coach Steve Small -- "I'm very pleased with the rebounding margin (52-31). In the second half we really picked up our rebounding...They could score inside and outside. We needed this test against this team...We need to get in better shape and get past the point of letting our opponent's defense dictate our offense...We need more work on defense. We have to condition ourselves mentally and physically to play strong defense."
NOTES -- Western is now 8-0 in exhibition play under coach Steve Small...WKU has won 11 straight exhibitions games, and is 18-4 in preseason games over the last 11 seasons.
NEXT GAME - Western will open the 2000-2001 regular season November 17 against Pepperdine at the Hawaiian Regent Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact WKU Assistant SID Chris Masters tomorrow in the office in E.A. Diddle Arena (270-745-5388).
