@LADYTOPPERHOOPS VS. KENTUCKY WESLEYAN
OCT. 29, 2013 | 7:00 PM CT
E.A. DIDDLE ARENA | BOWLING GREEN, KY
@LadyTopperHoops Talking Points and Notable Stats
- The 2013-14 season marks the 41st season of Lady Topper Basketball in the modern era and 52nd season overall. WKU first fielded a women's basketball team in 1914-15 and opened the modern era of the program in 1973-74.
- WKU enters tonigh's exhibition opener with a 28-game winning streak in exhibition games. Over the last 21 seasons, WKU is 35-4 in preseason tuneups.
- WKU returns 162 of the 165 starts that were recorded by the Lady Toppers a year ago. Entering last season, the WKU roster had just 48 combined career starts to their credit. Overall, the Hilltoppers return nearly 93 percent of their scoring, 92 percent of the teams' rebounding and 90 percent of the teams' assists.
- The 2013-14 season marks the second season for head coach Michelle Clark-Heard. In her first year as coach of the Lady Toppers, Clark-Heard engineered one of the nation's best turnarounds. She led WKU to 13 additional wins over the prior season, setting the Sun Belt Conference record for largest win improvement. She also helped WKU to eight additional conference wins over the prior season, tying the league record. Following the regular season, she was named the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year.
- The Lady Toppers return all five starters from a 22-11 team that reached the second round of the postseason and finished tied for second in the Sun Belt Conference. Among the top returnees are All-America candidate Alexis Govan, the third leading scorer in the nation last season among sophomores, and All-America candidate Chastity Gooch, the reigning Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year. The team returns seven letterwinners and an additional player that sat out due to a medical redshirt in addition to six newcomers.
-
