Jan. 29, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Senior All-America forward ShaRae Mansfield (Louisville, Ky./Manual HS) scored a career-high 33 points and made 11-of-11 free throws, leading Western Kentucky to a 74-69 upset win over No. 13 Southwest Missouri State Monday night at E.A. Diddle Arena. It's the first time WKU has beaten a top 25 team since it unseated No. 23 Florida International, 74-68, on Feb. 18, 1999. In addition, SMS is the highest-ranked opponent the Lady Toppers have defeated since an 88-86 victory over No. 4 Louisiana Tech on Jan. 25, 1998.
Mansfield, the preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, scored 20 of her 33 points in the second half, hitting 6-of-10 shots in the final 20 minutes. Her 33-point performance is the best by a Lady Topper since Leslie Johnson scored 34 points against Oregon on Dec. 5, 1997. Junior guard Natalie Powers (Owensboro, Ky./Apollo HS) added 17 points and freshman guard Camryn Whitaker (Cynthiana, Ky./Harrison County HS) tossed in a career-high 16 points and handed out six assists.
SMS All-America guard Jackie Stiles, who came into the game as the nation's leading scorer at 31.7 points per game, was held more than seven points under her average, tallying a team-best 24 points on 7-of-19 shooting.
"This is the second game in a row where we have put together 40 minutes of great basketball," WKU head coach Steve Small said. "Our girls had no quit in them tonight. They refused to lose and they refused to back down. We were strong in the post and ShaRae Mansfield truly proved why she is an All-American. This is what Lady Topper basketball is all about."
Western Kentucky (14-6) showed from the outset that it would not be intimidated by the Lady Bears' lofty ranking. The Lady Toppers scored the first four points of the game and eventually opened up a 12-7 lead on a layup by Powers with 15:50 remaining in the first half. SMS came right back, putting together a 12-1 run which included eight points from Stiles. The Lady Bears bumped their lead into double digits for the first time when Carly Deer hit a free throw for a 31-21 lead with 4:28 left in the period. But, Western closed the half on a 9-2 charge, cutting the margin to 33-30 at halftime.
The Lady Toppers continued their comeback in the second half, going on an 11-0 run to grab a 43-37 lead with 14:49 to play. Mansfield keyed the charge, scoring seven consecutive points in a 1:42 span. SMS cut the lead to 49-46 on a pair of free throws by Stiles, but Western responded by building an 11-2 run which gave the Lady Toppers their largest lead of the night at 60-48 w with 7:59 left.
The Lady Bears made one last charge, going on a 17-6 spurt to pull within a single point with 2:12 remaining. But, WKU held SMS to just one basket the rest of the way and hit 5-of-6 f free throws in the last 21 seconds to clinch the upset victory.
Western Kentucky returns to Sun Belt play Thursday at 7 p.m. (CST) against Middle Tennessee at Diddle Arena. That game will be televised live throughout the South on College Sports Southeast.
-- WKU --
