Feb. 24, 2003
Bowling Green, Ky. - It was a milestone night in E.A. Diddle Arena Monday night as the Western Kentucky women's basketball team recorded its tenth consecutive win, its first ten-game winning streak since the 1994-95 season. Kristina Covington (Sr., Elizabethtown, Ky.) also reached a personal milestone as she became the 26th Lady Topper in history to record 1,000 career points in WKU's 76-67 win over Chicago State.
Chicago State (11-14 )jumped out early a jumper by Marverly Nettles on its opening possession, but Leslie Logsdon (Jr., Munfordville, Ky.) answered with at the other end to spark an 8-0 run as another Logsdon three game Western (18-8) an 8-2 lead with 16:49 left in the half. WKU never trailed the rest of the half, but the Lady Cougars stayed close, allowing WKU to only build a lead as high as eight when a Tiffiany Diggins (Sr., Des Moines, Wash.) layup with 10:25 left made it an 18-10 game. The Lady Toppers held a 25-19 lead on after a Krystal Gardner (Fr., Munfordville, Ky.) layup with 6:56 remaining, but CSU used a 6-0 run over the next 2:52 to tie the score at 25-25 on a Kafayat Davies jumper. Western responded with a 6-0 run of its own, building the lead back up to 33-27 on two free throws by Covington with 2:33 left in the half. The teams traded baskets on their next possessions, but the Lady Cougars scored the final four points of the half as Western clung to a 33-31 lead at intermission.
Logsdon led all scorers at the break with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Bridgette Kelly paced Chicago State with nine points off the bench, going 3-for-3 from behind the arc.
The clubs traded baskets early in the second half, with Chicago State pulling even on two occasions. After the Lady Cougars pulled within two (43-41) on a Nettles jumper with 13:11 to go, the Lady Toppers used an 8-0 run to pull out to its largest lead of the contest when a Covington free throw made it 51-41 with 10:29 left. Again, CSU fought back, answering with a 10-1 run of its own over the next four minutes to get back within a point when two Nettles free throws made it 52-51 with 6:16 remaining. Western regrouped, but were not able to deliver the knockout punch until a three by Covington with 2:02 left pushed the Lady Topper lead out to 68-60. It also put Covington over the 1,000 point plateau. Chicago State was only able to get as close as six the rest of the way, as WKU connected on four of six free throws in the final 24 seconds.
Logsdon finished the night with a game-high 25 points, and also dished out 10 assists for her second double-double of the year. Shala Reese (Sr., Easton, Texas) also posted a double-double, her 14th of the season, with 11 points and 10 boards, while Tiffany Porter-Talbert (Fr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.) tossed in 13 points and pulled down a game high 14 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end. Covington also finished with 11 points, and nearly missed a double-double with nine boards.
The Lady Toppers will close out the regular season on Saturday (March 1), hosting Middle Tennessee at 12:30 p.m. (CST) in the first half of a doubleheader with the Hilltopper men's basketball team. Prior to the game, WKU will honor its four seniors - Kristina Covington, Tiffiany Diggins, Shala Reese and Jennifer Slaughter - as part of Senior Day on the Hill.
- WKU -
