Feb. 7, 2002
Bowling Green, Ky. - The Western Kentucky women's basketball team put together its best shooting performance of the season and cruised past Arkansas-Little Rock 85-53 Thursday night.
Western (14-8, 8-3 SBC East) jumped out early, scoring the first seven points of the game before UALR (6-16, 0-10 SBC East) got on the board with a free throw by Darci Cassidy at the 18:18 mark. A three by Kristina Covington (Jr., Elizabethtown, Ky.) sparked a 10-4 Lady Topper run over a 3:46 span, giving WKU a 17-6 lead at the 13:58 mark on layup by Tiffiany Diggins (Jr., Des Moines, Wash.). The advantage got no higher than 11 for WKU until the 7:46 mark when two free throws from Natalie Powers (Sr., Owensboro, Ky.) started a 15-4 Western run that increased the advantage to 23 points (42-19) with 2:57 remaining. The Trojans cut the lead back down to 18 with 30 seconds to play, but a last-second layup by Covington gave WKU a 46-26 lead at the half.
Covington and Shala Reese (Jr., Easton, Texas) led the Lady Toppers with 10 points each at the break. Eplunus Brooks led UALR with nine.
The Lady Toppers put the game away early in the second half, opening the period on a 13-2 run to take a 31-point lead on a jumper by Lavonda Johnson (Sr., Bowling Green, Ky.) with 16:23 to play. Western kept the lead above 30 points the rest of the way, extending the lead as high as 36 points when a layup by Leah Lineberry (So., Calvert City, Ky.) gave WKU an 80-44 lead with 4:45 to go. UALR was able to cut the advantage to 32, scoring the last points of the contest on an Asten Kennedy layup with 1:14 to go.
Four Lady Toppers scored in double figures, as the Lady Toppers shot a season-best 51.5% from the field.Reese led WKU with 14 points. Powers tossed in 13, while Covington and Diggins contributed 12 and 10, respectively. Lineberry also finished with career-highs in both points (8) and rebounds (9). Kennedy led all scorers with 18 points to pace the Trojans.
WKU wraps up its three-game homestand Saturday night, hosting Arkansas State at 7 p.m. (CST) in Diddle Arena.
-- WKU --
