Jan. 17, 2002
Murfreesboro, Tenn. - The Western Kentucky women's basketball team hung in for 35 minutes and used a late run to pick up a key Sun Belt Conference road win over Middle Tennessee on Thursday night.
Jamie Thomatis opened the scoring for the Lady Raiders (9-8, 2-3 SBC East) with a jumper at the 19:22 mark, but Kristina Covington (Jr., Elizabethtown, Ky.) answered with a three one minute later to give the Lady Toppers (10-6, 4-1 SBC East) a 3-2 advantage. Neither team was able to pull away by any more than three points for the next nine minutes, but a jumper by Patrice Holmes gave MTSU a 15-12 lead with 12:04 remaining. Covington again answered with a three to tie the game for the fifth time, this time at 15-15 with 11:39 remaining. However, Middle Tennessee quickly regained the lead on a Holmes jumper, and would hold the advantage the remainder of the half. MTSU was able to get up by seven (27-20) on a Tiffany Fisher jumper with 5:41 to play. A Covington jumper sparked an 8-2 Lady Topper run over the next 3:05 as WKU pulled within one at 29-28 on a jumper by Camryn Whitaker (So., Cynthiana, Ky.) with 2:36 remaining. However, the Lady Raiders scored five of the final seven points of the half to go into the locker room with a 34-30 lead.
Covington led all scorers in the first half with 10 points, while Natalie Powers (Sr., Owensboro, Ky.) and Leslie Logsdon (So., Munfordville, Ky.) added seven and six points, respectively. Holmes led MTSU with nine points on three-of-three shooting.
As has been the trend in recent games, the Lady Toppers came out shooting in the second half, opening the period with an 8-2 run to regain the lead 38-36 on a Powers jumper with 16:15 to play. However, the Lady Raiders went on a quick 4-0 spurt of their own to regain the advantage when a Fisher jumper made it 40-38 with 14:06 remaining. MTSU did not relinquish the lead, and built its lead to five (47-42) on a jumper by Thomatis with 11:04 left. Western was able to fight back and even the score at 51-51 with 7:48 remaining on a jumper by Tiffiany Diggins (Jr., Des Moines, Wash.), but MTSU again rattled off four unanswered points to regain a 55-51 lead with 6:28 on the clock. Western answered with back-to-back three pointers by Logsdon to regain a 57-55 lead with 5:12 to go. A Powers jumper made it 59-55 with 3:53 remaining. Western would not get a field goal for the next 3:30, but hit 11 of 14 from the foul line, taking its long lead of the contest with 17 seconds left when a Covington free throw made it 71-64. MTSU would get a jumper with four seconds remaining, but WKU ran out the clock to pick up the 71-66 victory.
Powers led all scorers with 22 points in the contest, while Covington and Logsdon tossed in 18 and 14, respectively. Covington also finished with a game-high 9 rebounds and six steals. Thomatis led the Lady Raiders with 20 points.
The Lady Topper return home to Diddle Arena Saturday night to face off with Sun Belt West Division leader Denver at 7 p.m. (CST).
-- WKU --
