Lady Toppers End Quick Turnaround Saturday Afternoon at Rice

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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Playing its second game in three days with a travel day in between, WKU will take on Rice inside Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. as part of a quick turnaround following a home tilt against Old Dominion on Thursday evening.

In that matchup against Old Dominion, WKU came away with a 62-48 victory behind a 23-point, 11-rebound double-double from C-USA Player of the Year candidate Tashia Brown. Freshman Sherry Porter also turned in her best scoring effort in nearly a month with 12 points, and the Lady Toppers held the Monarchs to just 37.3 percent shooting (19-of-51) from the field.

Tashia Brown leads all C-USA players with 23.2 points per game and fellow preseason All-C-USA pick Ivy Brown is averaging a double-double at 15.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. The pair have combined to score just over 50 percent of WKU's points this season with 898 total points between the duo.

Erica Ogwumike leads the Owls with 17.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, but has also committed a team-high 57 turnovers. Gabrielle Stanton has manned the point guard position for Rice, starting all 21 games and dishing out a team-best 69 assists.

After Saturday's game, WKU will renew its storied rivalry with Middle Tennessee for the 72nd time next Thursday at 6:30 p.m. inside the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

GAME #24 / C-USA GAME #11 – WKU AT RICE
WKU (18-5, 9-1 C-USA) at Rice (17-4, 7-2 C-USA)
February 10, 2018 | 2:00 p.m. (CT)
Houston, Texas | Tudor Fieldhouse (5,750)

QUICK SHOTS
- As of Feb. 9, WKU is ranked No. 52 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings and has faced four teams in the top 45 in Notre Dame, Missouri, Iowa and Ball State. WKU is one of only two C-USA representatives in the top 100 of the rankings, with UAB second at No. 71.

- WKU will be seeking to snap Rice's 13-game winning streak inside Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. The Owls have not dropped a home game since falling to WKU, 80-75, on March 4, 2017, as the Lady Toppers clinched the 2016-17 C-USA regular season championship.

- Ivy Brown enters Saturday's game as the only Division I player in the nation averaging 15 points, 10 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. Brown also has 11 points-rebounds double-doubles this season, tied for 22nd in the country.

- WKU and Rice have met one time in each of the last three seasons since both have been members of C-USA, with the Lady Toppers earning wins in all three games. None of the decisions have been more than seven points, however, including an 80-75 win for WKU in the last meeting on March 4, 2017.

- WKU owns an impressive record under Clark-Heard when breaking the 80-point barrier. The Lady Toppers have posted a near-perfect 55-3 mark when scoring 80 or more since the 2012-13 season; this season, WKU has scored 80 or more points nine times.

- WKU's 23-0 run against Florida Atlantic on Feb. 3 was the team's longest unanswered run since a pair of runs (27-0 and 37-0) against Lipscomb on Dec. 15, 2016, a game that saw WKU set the NCAA record for fewest points allowed in a half by holding Lipscomb to two first-half points. WKU outscored Florida Atlantic 32-12 in the second quarter, its second-most points in a single frame since moving to the system in 2015-16.

- Tashia Brown continued her attack on WKU's all-time scoring list on Feb. 8 against Old Dominion, scoring 23 points to pass Leslie Logsdon for sixth place in Lady Topper history with 1,865 career points. Kendall Noble's 1,888 points is up next for Brown as she seeks to jump into the top five on WKU's charts. Brown is on pace to be just the fourth Lady Topper to score 2,000 career points, joining Crystal Kelly, Lillie Mason and Tiffany Porter-Talbert. Brown has also climbed into the top 10 in C-USA history in scoring.

- On Jan. 31, Tashia Brown was named one of the 10 finalists for the Cheryl Miller Award presented to the best small forward in the nation, becoming the first player in C-USA history to earn the honor. Of the 10 finalists, Brown owns the most points per game this season (23.1) and defeated fellow finalist Sophie Cunningham of Missouri in a head-to-head matchup while scoring 30 points in that outing. Brown has averaged 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists against Power 5 opponents this season.

- Through 10 games of C-USA play, Sixth Player of the Year contender Dee Givens has been an offensive force off the bench for the Lady Toppers, averaging 11.3 points per game. Givens has hit double figures in all but three games of conference play.

- When holding opponents under 70 points this season, WKU owns a perfect 17-0 record and is 122-13 (.904) in that category dating back to the 2012-13 season. The Lady Toppers have held nine of their 10 C-USA opponents to fewer than 70 points.

- With her 10th double-double of the season at Marshall on Jan. 21, Ivy Brown joined an elite group of just six Lady Toppers with multiple seasons of double-digit double-doubles. Brown notched 10 double-doubles as a sophomore in 2015-16 and has already surpassed that mark thus far as a senior.

- Tashia Brown leads C-USA and is sixth among all players in the nation with 23.2 points per game in 2017-18. Brown has not scored fewer than 13 points in any single game this season and has moved into the top 10 in school history in field goals made (seventh, 707) and free throws made (eighth, 399). Brown also now holds the school record for field goals attempted for her career with 1,661. Brown has also moved into the top 10 in attempted free throws (eighth, 548).

- WKU has flashed its defensive prowess consistently this season, holding opponents to single-digit points in a quarter 12 times. For the season, opponents have failed to reach double digits in 13.6 percent of quarters played against the Lady Toppers.

- Through 23 games, Ivy Brown has broken into the top 10 in rebounding in school history, ranking seventh all-time with 893 boards. The Hodgenville, Ky., native is also fifth in school history with 139 blocks and her 79.9 percent mark from the free throw line for her career is sixth among all Lady Toppers who have made at least 200 free throws.

- Through 23 games, WKU leads all C-USA teams and ranks seventh nationally for the fewest turnovers per game, giving up the ball only 11.5 times per contest. The Lady Toppers have had single-digit turnovers in 10 games this season and lead the league in turnover margin at +7.0 per game.

- WKU is currently shooting 357-of-464 (.769) from the free throw line this season, with only five players shooting below 80 percent among those who have attempted at least five free throws. The Lady Toppers' 357 made free throws lead all C-USA squads so far this season, and their 76.9 percent success rate tops the league and ranks 12th in the nation.

- WKU has been very strong at collecting its own misses this season. The Lady Toppers have pulled down a league-leading 17.0 offensive boards per game, and Ivy Brown leads all C-USA players with 4.4 offensive rebounds per game. WKU's 17.0 offensive boards also ranks sixth in the nation among Division I teams.

- Raneem Elgedawy's dominant 23-rebound performance against FIU set several records. Her 23 rebounds were tied for the most ever by an individual in a C-USA game, tied for third-most in school history and by any individual C-USA player in a single game and are the most in a single game by any underclassman in the nation this season.

- Against FIU on Jan. 11, WKU pulled down a season-best 61 rebounds, including 27 on the offensive glass. Those 61 total rebounds were tied for the eighth-most ever in a C-USA contest, as were WKU's 27 offensive boards. As a team this season, WKU is averaging 38.9 rebounds per game, currently its best mark in a single season since totaling 41.4 per game in 2011-12.

- In WKU's 101-47 victory over FIU, the Lady Toppers set a new C-USA record for the largest margin of victory ever in a C-USA contest. The 54-point win topped the previous record of 53 that occurred on three separate occasions, most recently in an 84-31 win for Rice over UTEP on Feb. 1, 2007. WKU's 54-point win was its largest against a conference foe since downing South Alabama by 58 points, 100-42, as a member of the Sun Belt on Feb. 26, 1998.

- WKU has started a true freshman at least five times in each of the last four seasons. Tashia Brown earned five starts in 2014-15, Kayla Smith drew 31 starts in 2015-16, Sarah Price appeared in the starting lineup five times in 2016-17 and Raneem Elgedawy (23) and Sherry Porter (9) have been consistent starters for the Lady Toppers this season.

BROADCAST
Listen: 102.7 FM and 1450AM in Bowling Green (Jevin Redman, pxp)
Watch: FloSports (Online Stream)
Live Audio: C-USA TV (Online Audio)
Live Stats: Courtesy of Rice Athletics

Lady Toppers End Quick Turnaround Saturday Afternoon at Rice

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Players Mentioned

Ivy Brown

Tashia Brown

Raneem Elgedawy

Dee Givens

Kendall Noble

Sherry Porter

Sarah Price

Kayla Smith