March 22, 2003
Athens, Ga. - An impressive 2002-03 campaign came to an end for the Western Kentucky women's basketball team on Saturday as the 13th-seeded Lady Toppers fell to 4th-seeded Rutgers 64-52 in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Region.
Before Western could blink, it already found itself in a hole as Rutgers (21-7) scored the first nine points of the game over the first 1:49. The Lady Toppers (22-9) finally broke into the scoring column when a Shala Reese (Sr., Easton, Texas) made it a 9-2 game. That shot also sparked a 10-2 WKU run as a layup from Tiffany Porter-Talbert (Fr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.) brought the Lady Toppers within a point (11-10) with 13:55 to play. Dawn McCullouch broke the drought for the Scarlet Knights, connecting on a three-point play to push the lead back to 14-10. The teams traded buckets, but after a Leslie Logsdon (Jr., Munfordville, Ky.) jumper pulled WKU within three (16-13), Rutgers scored nine unanswered points to build a 25-13 lead, its largest of the half, on a Chelsea Newton jumper with 8:42 left in the half. Western was able to get as close as six with 4:13 remaining when another Logsdon jumper made it a 27-21 game, but the Lady Toppers found themselves down 31-23 going into intermission.
Logsdon paced the Lady Toppers with eight points at the half, equaling Rutgers' Cappie Pondexter for high-scoring honors. Western suffered on the glass as the Scarlet Knights held a 25-16 advantage in the rebounding column. Despite shooting 35 percent from the field, WKU was held scoreless (0 of 6) from behind the arc.
Rutgers scored three of the first five points in the second half to extend the lead to 34-25 with 18:47 remaining, but a Reese layup on the next possession sparked a 13-0 Lady Topper run over the next 7:53 as they were able to take their first lead of the game when a Porter-Talbert layup made it 36-34 with 12:48 remaining. Logsdon extended the lead to 38-34, but that would be the last basket for the Lady Toppers for the next four minutes as the Scarlet Knights scored 11 unanswered to regain a 48-41 lead with 6:51 left. Reese answered with six straight by herself, pulling WKU within a point (48-47) with 5:28 to go. That would be as close as Western would get, however, as Rutgers was able to take advantage of trips to the line, extending the lead as high as 14 points before settling for the 12-point victory.
Logsdon led three Lady Toppers in double figures with 13 points. Porter-Talbert added 11, while Reese and Kristina Covington (Sr., Elizabethtown, Ky.) tossed in 10 and 8, respectively, in their last game in a Western uniform. Pondexter led all scorers with 21 points, and also finished with 10 rebounds.
"This is not obviously not where we wanted to end our season," said Lady Topper head coach Mary Taylor Cowles. "I can't say enough about the nine young ladies who put on the uniform for our program this season. Western Kentucky women's basketball is definitely on the right track and headed in the right direction. For the players returning, I'm very excited for Lady Topper basketball."
The Lady Toppers finished the season 22-9, winning 17 of the last 19 games, including 14 in a row before today's loss. Western will return five letterwinners to next years club, and welcome back two of its top four scorers in Logsdon and Porter-Talbert.
- WKU -
