Jan. 23, 2003
Bowling Green, Ky. - Eight members of the Western Kentucky Lady Topper basketball team found the scoring column as Western used a hot shooting night to roll past Louisiana-Lafayette 71-43 Thursday night.
Western (9-8, 4-2 SBC East) opened up the scoring on its first possession as Tiffany Porter-Talbert (Fr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.) got behind the defense for a layup and foul to give the Lady Toppers a 3-0 lead early. The Ragin' Cajuns (3-12, 0-5 SBC West) answered with a three by Charlotte Green to tie the score with 18:48 to play, but a three by Leslie Logsdon (Jr., Munfordville, Ky.) on the next possession sparked a 7-0 Lady Topper run as Western took a 10-3 lead on a Krystal Gardner (Fr., Munfordville, Ky.) with 16:15 in the half. ULL got as close as six when two Sharee Glenn free throws made it a 14-8 game with 13:28 remaining. The Lady Toppers used another big run from there, this time scoring 16 of the next 21 points to take a 30-13 lead on a Jennifer Slaughter (Sr., Brownsville, Ky.) three with 6:41 remaining. A Tammie White jumper with 2:40 remaining would be the last points the Cajuns would score in the half as Western dropped in the final eight points of the half to take a 47-18 lead into halftime.
Logsdon led all scorers with 16 points in the half on 6-of-9 shooting and 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Kristina Covington also added nine points. As a team, WKU shot 58 percent from the floor and 75 percent (6-of-8) from behind the three-point line. The 47 points were also the most Western has scored in the first half this season.
The teams traded baskets at the outset of the second half, but Louisiana-Lafayette was only able to get as close as 24 points when a Sarah Richey jumper made it 54-30 with 11:54 remaining. A 6-0 Western run built the lead back to 30 as a Logsdon layup made it a 60-30 game with 8:40 remaining. A 7-0 Cajun run over the next two minutes cut the WKU lead to 60-37 on a Charlotte Green layup with 6:33 to play, but ULL would get no closer as Western went on to the 28-point victory.
Logsdon led all scorers with 21 points, while Porter-Talbert added 14 points and seven rebounds. Green paced the Ragin' Cajuns with 13 points, with Anna Petrakova tossing in 10 points and pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds.
Western will continue its weekend homestand Saturday when it entertains New Mexico State at 7 p.m. (CST) in Diddle Arena.
- WKU -
