Jan. 6, 2001
LAFAYETTE, La. - Western Kentucky opened up a 19-point second-half lead and then had to hang on for dear life before pulling out a 67-60 Sun Belt Conference win over Louisiana-Lafayette Saturday night at Earl K. Long Gym. The Lady Toppers extend their winning streak to five games and are now 24-0 all-time against UL Lafayette, although Saturday's margin was the closest in series history.
Junior guard Natalie Powers (Owensboro, Ky./Apollo HS) rang up a game-high 27 points, including a career-high 14-of-16 free throws from Western. Senior All-America forward ShaRae Mansfield (Louisville, Ky./Manual HS) added her fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore guard Kristina Covington (Elizabethtown, Ky./Elizabethtown HS) chalked up a game-high 15 rebounds for the Lady Toppers. WKU held a sizeable 50-39 advantage on the glass, but committed a season-high 26 turnovers in the victory.
Erin Dease logged a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Billie Popovska added 12 points for Louisiana-Lafayette, which lost for the fourth time in the last five games.
The first half was closely contested the entire way, with neither team leading by more than five points. In fact, there were four ties and eight lead changes in the opening 20 minutes. Western opened up its biggest lead of the half with a 9-4 run which gave the Lady Toppers a 25-20 edge with 6:38 to go. UL Lafayette stayed close to WKU and ended the half on a good note, as Dekita Williams canned a baseline jumper at the buzzer to cut the Lady Topper lead to 33-31 at halftime.
Western (9-4, 3-0 Sun Belt) put Louisiana-Lafayette on its heels early in the second half, going on a 20-3 run over the first 9:12 of the period to open up its largest lead at 53-34. The Lady Topper defense was in fine form as well, holding the Ragin' Cajuns without a basket for the first 11:53 of the period. UL Lafayette (6-7, 0-3) cut the lead to 11 points twice, but WKU rebuilt a 14-point lead when Powers hit two free throws with four minutes to play.
However, the Lady Toppers struggled from the field down the stretch, going without a field goal for the last 8:30 of the contest. The Ragin' Cajuns took advantage of Western's shooting woes, going on an 11-0 run which brought the hosts within 62-59 with 47 seconds to play. The lead was still three with 20 seconds left when Brooke Williams hit the first of two free throws. She missed the second, but Dease corralled the offensive rebound and missed two putback shots which could have brought UL Lafayette within a point. WKU eventually gained possession and hit four straight free throws in the last 14 seconds to salt away the hard-earned victory.
Western Kentucky will return to the friendly confines of E.A. Diddle Arena next week, opening a two-game Sun Belt homestand Thursday at 7 p.m. (CST) against South Alabama.
-- WKU --
