“I’m really proud of our young ladies for being able to come out and accomplish one of our goals of Sun Belt East Division championship,” said Lady Topper head coach Mary Taylor Cowles. “I thought out defensive intensity was outstanding in the first half, and that allowed us to really spark our offense as we ran out to an early lead.”
Western never trailed in the opening half, and the game was tied just one time in the opening minute. The Lady Toppers jumped out to an early 8-2 advantage, but two straight FIU baskets cut the lead to two with 13:36 remaining. However, a Leslie Logsdon jumper at the 13:15 mark sparked a 20-0 run as the Golden Panthers were held scoreless for more than eight minutes, allowing the Lady Toppers to build a 28-6 lead on another Logsdon jumper with 5:33 left in the half. During that run, Tiffany Porter-Talbert scored 12 of the 20 Lady Topper points, including 10 straight.
The Golden Panthers were able to use a 6-0 run to get back within 16 (30-14) on a pair of Gordana Bedalov free throws with 2:54 remaining. A Camryn Whitaker three at the 2:43 mark stopped the run and got the lead back to 19 points. FIU got no closer than 17 the rest of the way as Porter-Talbert hit a layup with seven seconds remaining to send the Lady Toppers to the locker room with a 39-19 advantage.
Porter-Talbert led all scorers with 18 points in the first half, and was the only player in the game in double figures at the break. Logsdon also added eight points. Four Golden Panthers finished with a team-high four points at the half as FIU shot just 22.6 percent from the floor in the opening period.
The Lady Toppers opened the second half on a 13-6 run to pull out to a 27-point lead (52-25) on a Logsdon layup with 16:21 to play. However, FIU was able to score 12 of the next 16 to cut the lead to 56-37 with 12:08 remaining. WKU was able to quickly get the lead back up to 24 points when a Porter-Talbert free throw made it 65-41 with 7:09 remaining. Florida International got as close as 19 but Western held off the Golden Panthers until a Jasmine Jenkins layup with 28 seconds cut the lead to 17 at the final horn.
Porter-Talbert led all scorers with 29 points, the most since she scored a season-high 31 against Arkansas State back on Jan. 13. Logsdon finished with 18 points in her final home game as a Lady Topper, while Crystal Kelly finished with 11 points. Eva Makela paced FIU with 20 points.
The Lady Toppers will open play in the 2005 Aeropostale Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Saturday (March 5) at 1:30 p.m. (CST) against either Denver or Arkansas-Little Rock. The 2005 tournament is being played at The Super Pit in Denton, Texas.
