Feb. 12, 2002
Springfield, Mo. - A strong second half start by Southwest Missouri State broke open a close game as the Lady Bears rolled 89-69 over the Western Kentucky women's basketball team on Tuesday night.
Western (14-10) jumped out early, opening the game on a 7-2 run to quiet the 6,654 in attendance at Hammons Student Center. A jumper by Carolyn Weirick got SMS (13-9) back within three points (9-6) with 16:06 to play, but WKU used a 10-3 run over the next 3:52 to take its long lead of the half at 19-9 on a jumper by Natalie Powers (Sr., Owensboro, Ky.). However, the Lady Toppers would go scoreless for the next 6:03 as the Lady Bears fought back to even the game at 19-19 on a three by Jennifer Lingor with 6:54 to play. Western quickly regained the advantage on a jumper by Leslie Logsdon (So., Munfordville, Ky.), and went back up by four (26-22) on a Powers three with 4:15 to play. From that point, Erica Vincente took control of the game, scoring 10 unanswered points for SMS to give the Lady Bears their long lead at 10 (36-26) with 1:15 to go. Logsdon ended the drought with a jumper at the 33 second mark as WKU went into the locker room down 36-28.
Powers led the Lady Toppers with 10 points at the half, while Lingor and Vicente each had 12 to pace the Lady Bears.
SMS came out of the gates hitting in the second half, scoring the first 20 points of the half to take a 46-28 lead with 17:40 to play. Western finally broke the string with a jumper from Leah Lineberry (So., Calvert City, Ky.) at the 16:49 mark. The Lady Bears continued to pour it on, however, getting the lead as high as 34 points (71-37) with 8:56 to go. Western did put together one final run, getting as close as 24 points (87-63) with 1:16 to go, but Lingor hit two free throws with 24 seconds to play to end the scoring.
Lingor led three Lady Bears in double figures with 27 points, connecting on 14 of 17 from the free throw line. Powers led Western with 12 points, while Tiffiany Diggins (Sr., Des Moines, Wash.) and Kristina Covington (Jr., Elizabethtown, Ky.) finished with 11 and 10, respectively.
WKU will continue its current three-game road swing on Saturday with a matchup against Sun Belt Conference West Division-leading North Texas at 7 p.m. (CST) in Denton.
-- WKU --
