MORAGA, Calif. — Four double-digit scorers led the WKU women's basketball team to a fifth-straight win, defeating Tulsa 76-63 in the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic. The Lady Toppers improve to 5-1 on the season, marking the best start through six games for WKU since the 2012-13 season.
For the second-straight game Raneem Elgedawy was WKU's leading scorer with 18 points. She also had 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season 15th of her career.
Whitney Creech finished with 15 points, five assists and five steals. Her five steals were a new career high for the senior. She connected on her first five shots of the game and has now scored in double figures for seven-straight games.
Dee Givens added 15 points in just 23 minutes and had four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Meral Abdelgawad was the final Lady Topper in double-figures, scoring 11 points. Seven of those points came in the first quarter. Myriah Haywood and Sandra Skinner each pulled down five rebounds each.
The game was back-and-forth for the first quarter, but WKU used a 9-0 run early in the second quarter to push its lead to double figures for the first time in the game. From that point, the Lady Toppers outscored Tulsa 23-9 to close out the second half, taking a 46-31 lead into halftime.
WKU used another 9-0 run at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth to push its lead out to 20 points, the largest of the game.
Ten different Lady Toppers saw action in the game. Hya Haywood scored her first collegiate points in the fourth quarter.
WKU had 12 steals in the game and scored 24 points off of Tulsa turnovers.
The Lady Toppers allowed only two Tulsa 3-pointers in the second half. In the last five games, WKU has allowed only three total second half 3-pointers and have given up only seven total on the season.
WKU's five wins have come by an average margin of 22.2 points. The Lady Toppers have not given up more than 63 points in the last five games and are scoring an average of 79.6 points per game in their wins.
The Lady Toppers will face the host team of the tournament on Saturday, facing off against St. Mary's. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. (CST).
Season tickets and single-game tickets for Lady Topper basketball games are now on sale. Tickets for WKU's home game against Oklahoma are on sale for $1. Tickets can be purchased online (here) or by calling 1-800-5-BIGRED. Tickets can also be purchased in-person at the WKU Ticket Office located in E.A. Diddle Arena.
How to Follow the Lady Toppers: For complete information on WKU Lady Topper Basketball, visit WKUSports.com or follow the program via social media @LadyTopperHoops on Twitter, @LadyTopperHoops on Instagram and on Facebook at facebook.com/WKUWomensBasketball.
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