March 10, 2003
Bowling Green, Ky. - The Western Kentucky women's basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for the seventh time in its history with a 62-53 win over South Alabama Monday in the semifinals.
"We didn't have out best offensive game today, but found a way to get it done defensively," said Lady Topper head coach Mary Taylor Cowles. "Our defensive intensity, especially on the rebounding, was a big key for us. We're exactly where we want to be (in the championship game)."
After misfiring on its first two possessions, Western (21-8) finally got on the board with a free throw from Shala Reese (Sr., Easton, Texas) at the 18:17 mark. However, South Alabama (19-10) responded with an 8-2 run to open up an 8-3 lead on a Taneisha Russell jumper with 13:56 on the clock. Western was able to regain the lead when a Kristina Covington (Sr., Elizabethtown, Ky.) three made it an 11-8 game with 12:15 left. WKU remained in front, and extended its lead to 10 when a Tiffany Porter-Talbert (Fr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.) jumper pushed the lead to 24-14 at the 7:54 mark. USA responded with a 6-0 run, however, to climb back within four on a jumper by Genevieve Delk with 5:00 left in the half. The Jaguars were able to cut the Lady Topper lead to two (28-26) with 2:19 remaining, but Western scored the final three points of the half to take a 31-26 lead into the lockerroom.
Covington led all scorers with nine points in the half, while Reese and Leslie Logsdon (Jr., Munfordville, Ky.) each had six. Shawntay Smith paced the Jaguars with eight.
The two clubs traded baskets for the first five minutes of the second half before four straight Jaguar points pulled USA within two (37-35) with 14:19 remaining, but Covington answered with a three to pull push the lead back out to seven. Western was able to build the lead back out to nine (48-39) on a Logsdon layup with 9:38 to play. The Jaguars again fought back, using a 6-0 run to pull within three, but Leah Lineberry (Jr., Calvert City, Ky.) answered with a three-point play to extend the lead to 51-45 with 7:21 remaining. Back-to-back USA buckets made it a 51-49 game with just under six minutes left, but the Lady Toppers were able to hold off the Jaguars, and connect on six free throws in the final 47 seconds for the nine-point victory.
Covington paced the Lady Toppers with 16 points, while tying for the team lead with 10 rebounds. Logsdon added 14 points, while Porter-Talbert tossed in 12. Reese finished the night with six points and 10 rebounds, with Krystal Gardner (Fr., Munfordville, Ky.) finished with nine points and a career-high 10 boards. Despite shooting just 35 percent from the floor for the game, WKU was able to control the boards, outrebounding South Alabama 56-34, with 21 of those rebounds coming at the offensive end.
Western will face Middle Tennessee for the second time in 10 days tomorrow at 3 p.m. (CST) for the tournament championship. The two teams split the regular-season series, with MTSU winning in Murfreesboro, while the Lady Toppers picked up a 12-point victory in the regular-season finale at Diddle Arena.
- WKU -
