Dec. 31, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Junior guard Natalie Powers (Owensboro, Ky./Apollo HS) scored a game-high 16 points, leading four players in double figures as Western Kentucky won its third consecutive game, rolling past Murray State, 79-47, Sunday afternoon at E.A. Diddle Arena. The Lady Toppers have now won five of their last six contests and they extend their home winning streak over Ohio Valley Conference opponents to 37 games.
Senior All-America forward ShaRae Mansfield (Louisville, Ky./Manual HS) scored 15 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in her first game back since having arthroscopic knee surgery three weeks ago. Junior forward Aja Brown (Bronx, N.Y./Manhattan Center HS) and junior center Katie Wulf (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community HS) each posted a pair of career highs -- Brown notched 13 points and eight rebounds, while Wulf logged 10 points and seven boards.
Monika Gadson had 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for Murray State, which has now lost four in a row and seven of its last eight games.
Western (7-4) appeared rusty in the opening moments of the game, the result of playing just one game in the last three weeks. In fact, there were six ties and eight lead changes in the first eight minutes of action before the Lady Toppers went on an 11-3 run to open up a 26-20 lead with 8:58 remaining in the first half. Brown keyed the charge with six points, two rebounds and a blocked shot.
Murray State (3-8) came back and sliced the lead to 31-28 on a layup by Eniko Verebes with 4:18 to play in the period. But, WKU ended the half on an 11-5 run to take a nine-point lead to the locker room.
The Lady Topper defense kicked in to start the second half, limiting the Lady Racers to just two points on a single field goal over the first 12:24 of the period. Meanwhile, Western exploded offensively, outscoring Murray State, 22-2, to seize control of the game. MSU never got closer than 26 points the rest of the way and finished with just five field goals and 14 points in the second half. The Lady Racers shot 17.8 percent (5-28) in the half while committing 12 turnovers.
Western Kentucky will start the New Year off with a two-game Sun Belt Conference road trip, which begins Wednesday at 8 p.m. (CST) when the Lady Toppers travel to Las Cruces, N.M., to meet league newcomer New Mexico State.
-- WKU --
