BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - WKU built a big second half lead but had to hold on after a furious Charlotte rally to post a 70-67 win over Charlotte on Thursday night in the Conference USA Championships quarterfinal round at the Bartow Arena on the campus of UAB.
WKU advances to the semifinals of the Conference USA Championships to take on either UTSA or Old Dominion. The game will tipoff at 12:30 p.m. CT on Friday with the game being played at Legacy Arena at the BJCC in Birmingham, Ala. Friday's game will be televised by CBS Sports Network with Ed Cohen (play-by-play) and Julianne Viani (analyst) on the call.
WKU will appear in the semifinals of a conference tournament for the third straight year, the first time that has happened since a seven-year stretch between 2002 and 2008. WKU has also won four straight games in conference tournament play, the longest streak for the Lady Toppers since five-game streak that spanned the 2003 and 2004 Sun Belt Conference Championships.
WKU (28-4, 16-2) built a 16-point lead with 9:44 to go in the game before WKU went scoreless over the next four minutes and the 49ers went on an 11-0 run. Within five at 57-52, redshirt sophomore Kendall Noble's free throw final ended the drought before junior Micah Jones hit a three to go back up 61-52 with 5:33 left. Gradually, the 49ers fought back and eventually tied the game at 65-65 with 2:21 to go.
Senior All-American candidate Chastity Gooch got a basket with 1:21 to go followed by a big jumper from freshman Tashia Brown to go up 69-65 with 38.9 left. Charlotte got two free throws with 16.9 left by Hillary Sigmon when she got fouled in a loose ball situation before Tashia Brown hit one-of-two with 13.4 left to set the final three-point margin.
Govan, making her first postseason appearance for WKU since the 2012-13 season after missing last year's postseason with a stress fracture in her left tibia, had a game-high 21 points, converting on 9-of-15 shots in the game, including 3-of-5 from behind the three-point arc.
Gooch added 19 points, five rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes.
WKU has won 10 straight games, 25 of 27, 38 of 43 and are 52-13 over the last two seasons. WKU's current 10-game winning streak is its second streak of the season of 10 wins or more and the 14th such streak in program history.
WKU's 28 wins this season are tied for the third most in a single season in program history. It is the first time WKU has reached the 28 win mark since 1994-95 when the team finished the year with 28 wins. WKU becomes the sixth team in Conference USA history to have at least 28 wins in a single season. WKU can tied the conference record of 29 wins with a win in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
WKU is now two wins shy of becoming the first team in Conference USA history to win 30 games while a member of the league.
Charlotte (15-17, 10-8) was led by Kira Gordon's 16 points and 11 rebounds. The 49ers shot just 38.5 percent for the game but got a huge advantage on the boards, outrebounding WKU 48-29, including 22 offensive boards resulting in 20 second chance points.
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