Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF) 
| Postgame Notes
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - In a game that featured seven lead changes and nine ties, WKU fell in a strongly-contested 83-75 decision against Middle Tennessee inside the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on Saturday evening.
WKU (17-3, 8-1 C-USA) had its 14-game winning streak snapped despite having five players reaching double figures, led by 19 points from Tashia Brown. Kendall Noble added 14 points, while Kayla Smith, Ivy Brown and Simone Goods each added 10 points apiece.
Noble added team highs in both rebounds (eight) and assists (seven) for the Lady Toppers, and Ivy Brown tallied seven rebounds of her own.
Brea Edwards led Middle Tennessee (13-7, 7-2 C-USA) with 29 points and 12 rebounds, Ty Petty had a double-double of 17 points and 11 assists, and Abbey Sissom (16) and Alex Johnson (14) joined them in double figures.
WKU jumped out to an early lead in the matchup, scoring seven of the game's first nine points, all of which came from the hands of Noble and Ivy Brown. The Blue Raiders fired back, though, with an 8-2 run over the next three and a half minutes to take their first lead of the night, 10-9, at the 4:51 mark.
Goods keyed an 8-1 run for the Lady Toppers over the next three minutes with six points, including a three-point play to cap the run and give WKU a 17-11 advantage with 1:47 remaining in the quarter.
The Lady Toppers maintained their lead until the 5:48 mark of the second quarter, when a three-point play from Petty put Middle Tennessee up 30-27. That play was part of a 15-5 Blue Raider stretch, and Sissom's shot from beyond the arc with 3:16 to play until halftime gave the Blue Raiders a 39-32 lead.
Kayla Smith pulled WKU back within five points, 43-38, with under a minute to play before a late free throw by Middle Tennessee sent the Lady Toppers into the halftime break down 44-38.
WKU came out of the locker room on fire in the third quarter, surging into the lead behind a 19-5 run over the first seven minutes of the half. Five different Lady Toppers scored during the run, which was led by six points from Noble and five by Tashia Brown. Brown's three-point play with 2:43 on the clock gave WKU its largest lead of the night, 57-49.
Middle Tennessee pulled back within two, 57-55, with six unanswered points, but another jumper from Tashia Brown gave WKU a 59-55 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, the game was tied four times as the two sides battled back and forth. With 5:10 remaining, Johnson hit a pair of free throws for the Blue Raiders to take a 66-65 lead. Following a three-pointer by Sissom, WKU battled back to within four points two times over the next three minutes, but could not complete the comeback.
WKU will be back in action next Thursday at 7:00 p.m. (CT) as the Lady Toppers host UTSA inside E.A. Diddle Arena. WKU will be looking to avenge a 64-63 defeat in San Antonio against the Roadrunners last year in its first season as a member of C-USA.
