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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – With a 2-0 record after the opening week of C-USA play, WKU will look to continue its unbeaten run on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. when the Lady Toppers welcome Marshall into E.A. Diddle Arena. WKU has a 10-1 all-time record against the Thundering Herd and owns a 15-point average margin of victory in nine meetings since the 2014-15 campaign.
In its last time out, WKU overcame Old Dominion on the back of a strong third quarter, outscoring the Monarchs 21-11 in the third frame en route to a 75-60 victory. C-USA Freshman of the Week Meral Abdelgawad (22 points) led four Lady Toppers in double figures.
WKU's rivalry with Marshall dates back to the 1975-76 season, but the two sides did not meet consistently until the Lady Toppers joined C-USA in 2014-15. Since then, Marshall has only one victory in the series, a 66-63 decision in the 2016 C-USA Quarterfinals in Birmingham, Ala.
Shayna Gore, one of the top players in C-USA, leads the Thundering Herd with 18.1 points per game and is joined in double figures by Taylor Porter with 10.4 per game. Khadaijia Brooks leads the squad with 6.4 rebounds per outing, and Kristen Mayo has dished out a team-best 54 assists through 15 games. Marshall enters Saturday's game on a three-game winning streak.
WKU will hit the road for the first time in C-USA play next week, making the Florida swing at FIU (Thursday at 10 a.m.) and Florida Atlantic (Saturday at 1 p.m.) as league play continues.
GAME #17 / C-USA GAME #3 – WKU VS. MARSHALL
WKU (8-8, 2-0 C-USA) vs. Marshall (8-7, 2-0 C-USA)
January 12, 2019 | 2:00 p.m. (CT)
Bowling Green, Ky. | E.A. Diddle Arena (7,523)
QUICK SHOTS
- With its win last Saturday over Old Dominion, WKU extended its school record for consecutive conference victories inside Diddle Arena. The decision over the Monarchs was the Lady Toppers' 21st straight C-USA home win dating back to Feb. 25, 2016, topping the previous record of 19 straight wins in the Sun Belt from Jan. 9, 1991, to Feb. 20, 1994.
- Among the 23 first-time Division I head coaches this season, Greg Collins currently ranks sixth with his eight victories. More impressively, no other team under a first-time head coach is averaging more points per game than the Lady Toppers, who are scoring at a 76.1 per game clip.
- Over its first five seasons as a member of Conference USA, WKU owns a 61-11 mark against the rest of the league since joining and posted a 12-4 record last season.
- Meral Abdelgawad captured her second straight C-USA Freshman of the Week honor on Monday after a 22-point outing against Old Dominion. Over her last three games, Abdelgawad is averaging 18.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 steals while shooting 65.5 percent from the floor; she became the first C-USA player to win back-to-back outright Freshman of the Week awards in more than two years with the honor. Abdelgawad is also the first WKU true freshman with multiple 20-point games in a single season since Alexis Govan during the 2011-12 campaign.
- Legendary Lady Topper Basketball head coach Paul Sanderford was named one of 12 finalists for the 2019 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame on Thursday evening. Sanderford won 365 games and reached three Final Fours in 15 seasons at the helm of the Lady Toppers.
- WKU has enjoyed one of its best shooting seasons in recent memory and has hit the 50 percent mark from the floor in eight games already this season. The Lady Toppers shot 50 percent or better only six times in the previous two seasons combined and have not had more games over 50 percent since 2014-15, when they hit the mark nine times. Since Greg Collins has been on The Hill in 2012-13, WKU is 32-3 when shooting 50 percent or better.
- This season, WKU's defense has limited its opponents to fewer than 70 points on seven occasions, coming away with a win in all seven games. Over the last three seasons dating back to 2016-17, the Lady Toppers have posted a 50-3 record when holding their opponents under 70 points, including a perfect 31-0 mark when limiting them to fewer than 60 points.
- Through 16 games, WKU ranks ninth in the nation in most free throws made, knocking down 241 shots from the charity stripe. The Lady Toppers have made 19 more free throws than the next closest C-USA squad (Louisiana Tech) and are making an average of 15.1 free throws per contest. For the year, WKU is just shy of making more free throws than its opponents have attempted, with the opposition combining for 255 attempts.
- Dee Givens entered the season as WKU's top returner in steals from the 2017-18 campaign and has continued to build on that reputation. Givens has 46 total steals, an average of 2.9 per game, this season, a number that ranks 16th among all qualifying Division I players. Givens' 46 steals is also the top mark among all C-USA players.
- Despite having her streak of 38 consecutive made free throws snapped against Ball State, Dee Givens has enjoyed a strong season from the charity stripe. Givens' .896 (69-of-77) percentage ranks second in the nation among all Division I players who have attempted at least 70 free throws this season.
- WKU moved one step closer to the 1,000-win plateau with its victory against Old Dominion on Jan. 5. The Lady Toppers now sit just eight wins shy of becoming the 10th program in Division I history to reach that mark.
- Under Greg Collins, WKU has featured a revamped, fast-paced offensive attack this season and is averaging 76.1 points per game through 16 contests. Should WKU average at least 75 points per game this season, the Lady Toppers will have hit that mark in four of the five most recent seasons after previously not doing so since 2004-05.
- WKU has been efficient at forcing turnovers this season, forcing its opponents into an average of 17.6 giveaways per game. The Lady Toppers have forced double-digit turnovers in 68 straight games dating back to a Jan. 7, 2017, contest at Old Dominion.
- Through 16 games, Raneem Elgedawy and Meral Abdelgawad have combined to score 406 of WKU's 1,217 points, just over a third of the team's total. In addition to their scoring, the duo has combined for 168 rebounds, also just under a third of the team's total of 529.
- 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.
- WKU put together an 11-1 record inside Diddle Arena last season and has posted an 80-15 record inside the friendly confines of its home arena since Greg Collins has been with the program in 2012-13. The Lady Toppers are currently on a three-game home winning streak dating back to their win over Union on Dec. 29.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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; John Butler, analysis)
Live Stream: ESPN3 (Online Stream)
Live Audio: C-USA TV (Online Audio)
Live Stats: Courtesy of WKU Athletics
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