March 3, 2002
New Orleans, La. - The Western Kentucky women's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a 64-49 win over South Alabama Sunday morning in the quarterfinals.
"This was a great team victory, from the staff all the way through the entire squad," said WKU acting head coach Marti Whitmore. "Everyone gave it all they had it turned out great for all of us ... We came together and played great team defense. It was great to outrebound such an athletic team like South Alabama. Everyone rebounded and everyone handed out assists. This was a total team effort by the players and the staff."
South Alabama opened the scoring on the first possession with a three from Joi Gopher. Shala Reese scored Western's first six points, and the Lady Toppers were able to tie the score at 8-8 on a jumper from Tiffiany Diggins at the 15:40 mark. WKU held USA scoreless for a 6:42 stretch, taking its first lead of the contest at the 7:01 mark when a three from Kristina Covington gave the Lady Toppers at 15-11 lead. The Jaguars got back within 19-16 on a Gopher three with 3:35 to play but the Lady Toppers closed the half on a 7-2 run over the final 1:24, taking a 26-18 into the locker room on a jumper from Leslie Logsdon at the buzzer. Reese led the Lady Toppers with 10 points at the break, while Gopher paced USA with nine points on three three-pointers.
Western extended its lead to double digits for the first time on the first possession of the second half when a Diggins jumper made it a 28-18 game. USA got as close as seven (31-24) on a jumper by Lyletha Gamble with 15:50 to play, but the Jaguars would get no closer as another Diggins jumper started a 10-2 Lady Topper run over the next 4:13, giving the Lady Toppers a 41-26 advantage on two Natalie Powers free throws with 11:16 to play. WKU kept the lead in double figures, reaching a long-lead of 17 (64-47) on an Elisha Ford layup with eight seconds remaining.
Western will face North Texas, the SBC West Division Champion in the first of two semifinal games tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m. (CST). The other semifinal matchup will pit Florida International and Denver.
