"I couldn't be more proud of our team," said Cowles. "We not only put together a great game plan tonight, we also went in with an attitude that had our girls believing they could win this game."
After the Lady Techsters (1-1) opened the scoring with a layup from Cheryl Ford, Western (1-0) used a 5-0 run to take a three-point advantage on a free throw from Tiffany Porter-Talbert (Fr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.). Louisiana Tech fought back to regain an 8-5 lead on an Erica Smith jumper with 15:05 to play. That would be the last points Tech would score for almost six minutes as the Lady Toppers went on an impressive 19-0 run. The stretch was capped off by a three from Kristina Covington (Sr., Elizabethtown, Ky.) at the 9:47 mark that gave WKU a 24-8 lead. Tech ended the drought with a layup from Tasha Crain at 9:28. The teams traded baskets and Western got the lead back to 13 when a Shala Reese (Sr., Easton, Texas) layup made it 26-13 with 6:49 remaining. The Lady Techsters again regrouped and used a 10-0 run to pull within five (28-23) on a Trina Frierson layup with 3:18 to go. Another three by Covington put a stop to the run and pushed the lead back to 31-23, and Porter-Talbert added three more free throws to get the lead back to double figures at 34-23 with 2:52 to play. WKU was able to keep the advantage in double-digits and went into the lockerroom with a 39-27 lead.
Covington and Leslie Logsdon (Jr., Munfordville, Ky.) led all scorers at the break with 12 apiece. Covington's eight rebounds were also a game-high at the break. The Lady Toppers were able to hold Tech to 32 percent shooting from the field in the first 20 minutes, and allowed the Lady Techsters just two offensive rebounds.
Neither club did much scoring in the early stages of the second half, but the Lady Techsters did use a 5-2 run to pull within 45-37 on two Amber Obaze free throws with 11:47 to play. A free throw by Tiffiany Diggins (Sr., Des Moines, Wash.) at the 11:48 mark started a 9-0 Lady Topper run over the next 1:12, extending the lead back to 53-37 on a Reese layup at the 9:07 mark. Western continued the pressure and pushed the lead to 19 points when two Porter-Talbert free throws made it 60-41 with 6:20 to play. Tech responded with a 7-2 run over the next 1:30 to get within 14 at 62-48, but a Logsdon three ended the run and pushed WKU's advantage back to 65-48. After the final media timeout of the game, Louisiana Tech used a 5-2 run to get back within 12 when an Amisha Carter layup made it 68-56 with 1:42 remaining. However, Western was able to run out the clock to preserve the 71-57 upset.
Logsdon led four Lady Toppers in double figures with a game-high 18 points. Reese and Porter-Talbert each dropped in 15, while Covington added 14. Covington and Reese pulled down 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively, to complete the double-doubles.
Western will be back in action next Friday (Nov. 29) when it hosts Clemson in the 20th annual BB&T Classic at 7 p.m. (CST).
-- WKU --
