WKU Treks to Canada for Three Games at 2018 Vancouver Showcase

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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - For the eighth time in program history, WKU will play a set of games outside the United States as it competes in the 2018 Vancouver Showcase, beginning with a rematch of the 2018 NCAA Tournament matchup against No. 9/8 Oregon State on Thanksgiving Day at 10:30 p.m. (CT). The Lady Toppers will also be in action on both Friday and Saturday in the event.

In their last time out, WKU claimed its first victory of the Greg Collins era in Tuesday's Education Day bout against Southern Illinois, holding off a fourth-quarter charge to earn an 83-76 win. WKU topped 80 points for the fourth time in five games to open the 2018-19 campaign.

Alexis Brewer returned to the starting lineup for the Lady Toppers, tallying 10 points against the Salukis, while Dee Givens maintained her hot start, matching her career high of 23 points for the second straight game while hitting six of her seven three-pointers.

Oregon State enters Thursday with a perfect 3-0 record, winning its three outings by an average of 38 points, including an 89-56 win over Saint Mary's in its last time out. Destiny Slocum (17.3), Mikayla Pivec (15.3) and Kat Tudor (13.7) lead the Beavers in scoring, with Pivec also averaging a double-double, pulling down a team-best 10.3 rebounds per game.

After Thursday, WKU will meet either ETSU or South Carolina on Friday before rounding out the Vancouver Showcase with its final game on Saturday.

GAME #6 – WKU VS. NO. 9/8 OREGON STATE
WKU (1-4, 0-0 C-USA) vs. No. 9/8 Oregon State (3-0, 0-0 Pac-12)
November 22, 2018 | 10:30 p.m. (CT)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | Vancouver Convention Centre (3,000)

GAME #7 – WKU VS. ETSU OR NO. 13/12 SOUTH CAROLINA
WKU (1-4, 0-0 C-USA) vs. ETSU (0-4, 0-0 Southern) OR No. 13/12 South Carolina (2-1, 0-0 SEC)
November 23, 2018 | 4:30 p.m. (CT) OR 10:30 p.m. (CT)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | Vancouver Convention Centre (3,000)

GAME #8 – WKU VS. TBD
WKU (1-4, 0-0 C-USA) vs. TBD
November 24, 2018 | TBD
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | Vancouver Convention Centre (3,000)

QUICK SHOTS
- The Vancouver Showcase will be WKU's eighth trip in program history outside the United States and the first since traveling to Puerto Rico during the 2013-14 season. The Vancouver field is also one of the toughest that WKU has faced in an in-season tournament. The two most recent national champions (South Carolina and Notre Dame) are both in the field, as well as 2018 Elite Eight participant Oregon State.

- WKU earned the first win of the Greg Collins era on Tuesday in its 83-76 victory over Southern Illinois. Collins, who previously served as an assistant and associate head coach for the Lady Toppers, now has 155 victories on the bench for WKU.

- Raneem Elgedawy tallied a career-best 20 points at Central Michigan on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and has scored double digits in the first five games of the season, the longest consecutive double-digit scoring streak of her career.

- The Lady Toppers have scored 80 or more points in four of their first five matchups this season, the fourth time in school history that they have accomplished that feat and first time since 1996-97. WKU is averaging 80.6 points per game against its first five opponents, a number that number would currently rank sixth in school history, and is third among C-USA teams this season, trailing only UAB and Louisiana Tech.

- After winning C-USA Sixth Player of the Year last season, Dee Givens has stepped up in a big way for the Lady Toppers, moving into the starting lineup and averaging 19.6 points against WKU's first five opponents to begin the season. Through five games, Givens is averaging one point every 92 seconds that she is on the floor.

- WKU's defense has pressured all four of its opponents into double-digit turnovers thus far on the season. Through four games, the Lady Toppers have forced an average of 17.5 turnovers against a quartet of tough opponents to open the year.

- WKU continued its hot start from beyond the arc against Southern Illinois, connecting on 10 of its 14 three-point attempts, including a 6-for-7 mark by Dee Givens. The Lady Toppers' .714 clip in that game was tied for the fifth-best in program history, while Givens' .857 tally was the fifth-best ever by a Lady Topper individual, both in games with at least five three-pointers made.

- Through five games, Raneem Elgedawy and Meral Abdelgawad have combined to score 121 of WKU's 403 points, just under a third of the team's total. In addition to their scoring, the duo has combined for 52 rebounds, also just under a third of the team's total of 158.

- Through five games this season, WKU has significantly raised its three-point shooting percentage from last season, knocking down 43 of its 100 (43.0 percent) attempts thus far. Last season, the Lady Toppers were 34.8 percent from beyond the arc. The current 43.0 percent mark would rank second in program history for a single season, trailing only 1990-91's mark of 43.2 percent.

- Despite its rally falling just short at Oklahoma on Nov. 10, WKU scored its most points in a single quarter since moving to the system in 2015-16, netting 35 points in the fourth frame against the Sooners. The 35 points were WKU's most since setting the previous record of 33 points in the fourth quarter against Dayton in the WNIT on March 17, 2016.

- The Lady Toppers were picked fourth in the preseason C-USA coaches' poll, but have met or exceeded their expectations in each of the last two years. In 2016-17, WKU won the tournament title after being picked first, and repeated as champions in 2017-18 after a second-place pick.

- Over its first four seasons as a member of Conference USA, WKU owns a 59-11 mark against the rest of the league since joining and posted a 12-4 record last season.

- WKU put together an 11-1 record inside Diddle Arena last season and has posted a 75-14 record inside the friendly confines of its home arena since Greg Collins has been with the program in 2012-13. The Lady Toppers earned their first home victory of the Collins era on Tuesday, defeating Southern Illinois, 83-76, inside Diddle Arena.

- For the first time since the 2010-11 season, WKU welcomed two Power 5 programs to E.A. Diddle Arena. That season, the Lady Toppers hosted Northwestern and Texas Tech, and this year both Louisville and Iowa made the trip to Bowling Green.

- WKU enters the 2018-19 season having had only five international letterwinners in program history, including sophomore Raneem Elgedawy. This year, the Lady Toppers will sport three international student-athletes on the roster, with Arame Niang and Meral Abdelgawad joining Elgedawy on The Hill.

- Since becoming a member of C-USA prior to the 2014-15 campaign, WKU has posted a 33-2 record against conference foes inside Diddle Arena, never losing more than one game in a single season. The Lady Toppers currently own a 19-game home winning streak in conference play dating all the way back to a 62-51 win over Middle Tennessee on Feb. 25, 2016.

- In its four seasons as a C-USA member, WKU has claimed a pair of regular season titles and has won the conference tournament three times, including back-to-back wins in both 2017 and 2018. WKU is only the second school in C-USA history to claim back-to-back tournament titles as a league member, joining former member Tulane, who won three straight from 1999-2001.

- WKU sits only 15 wins shy of a huge milestone in program history, with 985 victories through five games in 2018-19. In the history of Division I women's basketball, only nine programs have collected 1,000 total wins. WKU, Green Bay, Maryland, South Dakota State and Notre Dame are all within striking distance of joining that exclusive club this season.

- With the release of the preseason AP poll on Oct. 31, WKU appears slated to play at least three ranked opponents in its first six outings this season, with a fourth (Central Michigan) receiving votes in the poll. Should WKU face three ranked opponents, it would mark the second time in the last three seasons that the Lady Toppers have done so. In 2016-17, WKU battled Indiana (#23), DePaul (#18) and Louisville (#8) in the regular season before drawing Ohio State (#11) in the NCAA Tournament.

- In each of Greg Collins' six previous years on WKU's bench, the Lady Toppers have had 20 or more victories, with the team looking to extend that streak in 2018-19. WKU's current streak of six 20-win seasons is its second-longest in program history, trailing only seven straight from 1982-83 to 1988-89 during the Paul Sanderford era. In WKU's modern era (since 1973-74), five of the 10 head coaches have captured 20-win seasons in their debut years on The Hill, most recently with Michelle Clark-Heard's 22 wins in 2012-13.

BROADCAST
Listen: 102.7FM, 1450AM in Bowling Green (Brett Williams, pxp)
Live Streams: bd Global Sports (Online Stream)
Oregon State Live Audio: C-USA TV (Online Audio)
Live Stats: Courtesy of bd Global Sports

WKU Treks to Canada for Three Games at 2018 Vancouver Showcase

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Players Mentioned

Meral Abdelgawad

Alexis Brewer

Raneem Elgedawy

Dee Givens

Arame Niang