BOX SCORE
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The Western Kentucky University women's basketball team was tied with Towson with 7:00 to play Saturday afternoon at E.A. Diddle Arena but came up short in their 2011-12 season opener, falling 67-62 to the visiting Tigers. Senior forward Keshia Mosley led the Lady Toppers with 12 points and added 11 rebounds.
Freshmen Danay Fothergill and and Alexis Govan had strong debuts for the Lady Toppers Saturday. Fothergill made three three-pointers for nine points, and Govan added seven points, seven rebounds, and a team-high five assists. Senior guard Chaney Means matched Fothergill with three made triples Saturday as LaTeira Owens had seven points and a team-high 12 rebounds.
It was Towson (1-0) who controlled play early Saturday, jumping out to a 7-4 lead 3:58 into the game on a Krystal Parnell layup. WKU (0-1) came back to tie the game 10-10 at the 13:06 mark of the first half on baskets by Owens and Jasmine Johnson. The Tigers would take a 13-10 lead before an Owens layup sparked a 13-2 run over 3:52 to give the Lady Toppers a 23-15 lead. Fothergill capped the run with her first career three-pointer at the 7:59 mark of the first.
Towson came back with a 14-2 run late in the first half, highlighted by a pair of Meredith Kennedy threes, to take a 31-29 lead with 3:09 left in the half. Mosley gave WKU the lead with back-to-back baskets, putting the Lady Toppers ahead 33-31 with 1:42 to go in the first half. The Tigers then closed the half by scoring the last five points, as Kennedy's fourth triple of the half gave Towson a 36-33 halftime lead.
The Tigers grew their lead to six early in the second half, as a Sheree Ledbetter layup made the score 39-33 with 17:56 to go in the game. WKU would get within one over the next 2:55. The Lady Toppers' 7-2 run started with a Means three-pointer, with baskets by Mimi Hill and Teranie Thomas making the score 41-40 with 15:01 remaining in the game. Towson came back to grow the lead to seven at the 9:53 mark of the half as a Tanisha McTiller bucket put the Tigers ahead 50-43.
Govan answered McTiller with a three to start a 9-2 run over the next 2:29 to tie the game at 52-52. Means and Fothergill also made three-pointers in the game-tying run. Towson took back the lead on a McTiller free throw and layup, taking a 55-52 lead with 5:57 to go in the contest. The Tigers' lead grew to four, 58-54, with 3:32 remaining on a pair of Kennedy foul shots. Fothergill then got WKU within one on a three-pointer with 2:52 to go, making the score 58-57. That would be as close as the Lady Toppers would get the rest of the way. A Nyree Williams layup with 2:26 left to play started a 6-0 run for the Tigers to give Towson a 64-57 lead with 38 seconds remaining.
WKU shot 32.9% from the field Saturday, as Towson made 41.7% of its shots from the floor. The Lady Toppers had a 51-31 advantage on the boards, pulling down 28 offensive rebounds and turning them into 20 second-chance points. WKU also assisted on 18 of its 23 baskets. McTiller led all scorers with 18 points, as Kennedy added 17 points for Towson.
WKU will take to the road for its next game. The Lady Toppers will take on Big Ten opponent Northwestern Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
