The Jaguars, 1-4 on their college tour, jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead when Mykala Allauyne knocked down a trey on the opening possession, but Tiffany Porter-Talbert answered with a jumper at the other end to make it a 3-2 game. Despite tying the score three times in the opening minutes, Western was unable to take a lead in the game until a Porter-Talbert jumper put WKU ahead 11-9 with 15:41 left in the half. The two teams swapped baskets and saw the lead change five times in the next 57 seconds before a Charlotte Marshall free throw at the 13:42 mark started a 8-0 Lady Topper run. Tifany Zaragoza capped off the run with a three with 11:23 remaining to give Western a 23-16 lead.
The Lady Toppers took their first double-digit lead of the game with 7:22 left in the half when Bartee knocked down a three to make it a 30-18 game. Western's lead never slipped below ten the rest of the half, with WKU opening up a 20-point lead (46-26) on a Bartee jumper with 49 seconds remaining. The Jaguars cut the deficit to 17 points on two Brandy Reed free throws, but Bartee hit a layup at the buzzer to send Western into the lockerrom with a 48-30 advantage.
Bartee led all scores at the half with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Porter-Talbert also finished the half in double figures with 11. Tracy Bougere led the Houston Jaguars with six.
Western opened the second half on an 8-0 run, pushing the lead to 56-30 on another Bartee jumper with 17:08 remaining. The Lady Toppers pushed the lead to 30 (63-33) on a Krystal Gardner layup at the 14:27 mark. Western's lead only got below 30 one other time in the game. The lead got as high as 46 when a Shardae Butler layup made it 89-43 with 4:51 remaining. The Jaguars as close as 36 the rest of the way, but Bartee hit a layup with 32 seconds left to close out the scoring and give Western the 40-point victory.
Bartee led all scorers with 28 points, while Porter-Talbert added 19. Ford finished with 14, Camryn Whitaker tossed in 11 and Zaragoza and Gardner each chipped in 10.
The Lady Toppers will open the 2003-04 regular season next Friday (Nov. 14) when they host Rhode Island in the opening round of the 2003 Preseason WNIT at 7 p.m. (CST) in E.A. Diddle Arena.
