Dec. 7, 2002
Lexington, Ky. - The Western Kentucky University women's basketball team won its second game this week against an intrastate rival, topping Kentucky 88-83 Saturday night. It was the Lady Topper's second straight win over Kentucky, and the first time since 1994 that they have won in Memorial Coliseum.
Neither team shot well out of the gate, but Kentucky (2-3) struck first with a free throw from Sara Potts just over a minute into the game. After the two teams traded baskets over the next couple minutes, a three from Kristina Covington (Sr., Elizabethtown, Ky.) gave WKU a 7-5 lead at the 16:02 mark and started a 10-2 Lady Topper run over the next 3:30 as they opened up a 14-7 lead on a free throw from Leslie Logsdon (Jr., Munfordville, Ky.) with 12:33 remaining in the half. Western (3-1) built the lead as high as eight when another Covington three stretched the lead to 19-11 with 10:43 remaining, but a 6-0 run by the Wildcats cut the WKU advantage to two when Keiko Tate knocked down two free throws to make it a 19-17 game with 8:31 to go. In fact, the Wildcats would get as close as two three other times in the next five minutes, but each time WKU was able to answer and hold on to the advantage. The Lady Toppers got the lead back to six (38-32) on a Shala Reese (Sr., Easton, Texas) layup with 1:22 to go, but Kentucky closed the half on a 6-2 run as Western held on to a 40-38 advantage going into the lockerroom.
Covington led the Lady Toppers with 11 points at the break, while Logsdon went into the lockerroom with 10. Rita Adams paced the Wildcats with 11 points.
WKU scored the first three points out of the gate to push the lead to five early in the second half. Again, Kentucky was able to fight back and get within a point when two free throws from SeSe Helm made it a 46-45 game with 17:30 to go. Western refused to let Kentucky take the lead, however, as it answered with a three from Logsdon, then pushed the lead to six (54-48) on a jumper from Tiffiany Diggins (Sr., Des Moines, Wash.) with 15:47 remaining. UK got no closer than four over the next several minutes as WKU used a 7-2 spurt midway through the half to take its first double-digit lead of the game when a jumper by Krystal Gardner (Fr., Munfordville, Ky.) made it a 74-64 game with 7:09 remaining. Again, the Wildcats refused to go away, using a 10-1 run of its own to get back within a point when a layup from Jennifer Humphrey made it a 79-78 game with 2:40 to play. Western again answered, this time with a three from Logsdon to push the lead back to four. WKU was able to hit its free throws in the final minute and leave Lexington with an 88-83 victory.
Logsdon paced the Lady Toppers with 23 points, equaling her career high. Covington added a season-best 22 points, while Tiffany Porter-Talbert (Fr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.) finished with 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Adams paced UK with 29 points.
Western will take a week off for final exams before returning to the court at Diddle Arena next Saturday (Dec. 14) when they host Murray State at 7 p.m. (CST).
