Feb. 3, 2003
Bowling Green, Ky. - For the first time this season, all nine members of the Western Kentucky University women's basketball team found the scoring column as the Lady Toppers won their fourth straight game with an 86-57 victory over Butler on Monday.
Butler (4-16) got a layup from Angel Mason on its opening possession to take a 2-0 lead and mark the first time in four games the Lady Toppers (12-8) had trailed in a contest. However, Western regrouped to score the next seven points to take a 7-2 advantage on a Shala Reese (Sr., Easton, Texas) jumper with 17:55 to play. The Bulldogs would only get as close as three the rest of the half as an 11-0 Lady Topper run midway through the half opened up a 24-8 lead with 9:02 remaining when Jennifer Slaughter (Sr., Brownsville, Ky.) knocked down a three from the wing. WKU pushed the lead out to 16 points when a Tiffiany Diggins (Sr., Des Moines, Wash.) layup made it a 26-10 game, but Butler used a 6-0 run to get back within 10 (26-16) with 5:07 to play. Tiffany Porter-Talbert (Fr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.) responded with back-to-back three-point plays to push the Western lead back out to 16 points (32-16) with 4:41 to play in the half. After a Butler basket, WKU used an 8-0 run to open up a 40-18 lead with 1:26 to play, but the Bulldogs drained two threes in the final minute, including a half-court shot by Stephanie Boeke at the buzzer to cut the Western lead to 42-24 at the break.
Porter-Talbert led the Lady Toppers with 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting in the first half. Reese added eight points, while Leslie Logsdon (Jr., Munfordville, Ky.) and Kristina Covington (Sr., Elizabethtown, Ky.) each had six. Courtney Urquhart led Butler with 11 points at the break.
Western opened the second half on an 9-2 run, thanks to five points from Covington and four by Reese. That pushed the lead to 49-26 with 18:25 remaining. Butler would not get the lead under 20 the rest of the way as WKU built the lead as high as 28 on two occasions in the next ten minutes, the last coming with 7:08 remaining when Logsdon buried a three to make it a 77-49 game. The Bulldogs were able to get as close as 23 (80-57) with 3:28 remaining, but WKU closed the game on a 6-0 run for the 29-point victory.
Porter-Talbert led five Lady Toppers in double figures with 15 points, while Reese added 14. Covington chipped in 13, Logsdon added 11 and Diggins tossed in a season-high 10 points.
Western goes back on the road Wednesday (Feb. 5), traveling to Denver for an 8 p.m. (CST) date with the Pioneers, co-leader of the Sun Belt West Division.
- WKU -
