Lady Toppers Score 20 in Final 6 Minutes to Top Marshall, 74-65

Saturday, January 25

Huntington, W. Va.

12 PM

Western Kentucky University

-126, 43 CUSA

Marshall

-711, 25 CUSA

WKU

Marshall

Photo by: Steve Roberts, WKU Athletics

Lady Toppers Score 20 in Final 6 Minutes to Top Marshall, 74-65

1/25/2020 4:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

HUNTINGTON, W.V. — The WKU women's basketball team closed out its second straight road win in dominant fashion on Saturday afternoon, outscoring Marshall 20-7 in the final six minutes of the game to defeat the Thundering Herd, 74-65. The Lady Toppers were down six at 6:24, but an 18-1 comeback run proved to be the difference in the game.

WKU improves to 12-6 on the season and 4-3 in Conference USA. It was the Lady Toppers' fifth road win of the season. After playing 12 of the first 18 games of the season on the road, WKU will play seven of the last 11 regular season games in E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Lady Toppers had two players with double-doubles in the game for the first time since a matchup against Old Dominion in last season's C-USA Tournament. Dee Givens finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Raneem Elgedawy finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the year.

Whitney Creech and Meral Abdelgawad joined Givens and Elgedawy in double figures. Creech finished with 15 points, all coming in the second half. She also tied her season high in assists with seven and had three rebounds and two steals. Meral Abdelgawad put up 12 points along with six rebounds, three steals and two assists.

The Thundering Herd jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game. Givens brought the Lady Toppers back within a point with a pair of deep 3-pointers to start the game 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. Marshall followed with a 6-0 run, but the Lady Toppers responded with a 6-0 run of their own sparked by back-to-back baskets from Elgedawy. Both teams scored once more before the end of the quarter to go into the second period tied at 14 points each.

Marshall scored the first points of the second quarter on three-straight made free throws. The two teams traded baskets, but the Thundering Herd went ahead by four on a made 3-pointer at the 6:55 mark. WKU bounced back with a 7-0 run thanks to five-straight points from Givens. Marshall then scored five-straight to regain the lead, but WKU scored the last four points of the quarter to take a 30-28 lead into halftime.

The Thundering Herd opened the third quarter with a three, but Creech countered with a 3-pointer of her own on the next possession. The rest of the quarter played out similarly, when one team would make a basket the other would do the same. Marshall scored 17 points in the frame to WKU's 15 to go into the final quarter tied at 45.

The fourth quarter started in the same fashion, but Marshall made back-to-back 3-pointers to go ahead by six at the 6:24 mark. From that point, WKU turned on the turbo drive. From the 5:58 mark, the Lady Toppers scored 20 points while holding Marshall to only seven for the remainder of the game. That stretch included an 18-1 run. The Lady Tops shot 75 percent from the field in the last six minutes and forced Marshall into five turnovers.

The Lady Toppers took care of the ball down the stretch, not turning the ball over for the final 17:02 of the game. Overall, Marshall had 20 turnovers in the game, marking the seventh time this season WKU has forced 20-or-more miscues.

WKU outrebounded Marshall 44-29 in the game, bringing the Lady Tops' record to 10-0 when outrebounding their opponent this season. WKU also outscored the Thundering Herd 40-20 in the paint.

After three-straight road games, the Lady Toppers will return to Diddle Arena next with a pair of games. WKU will take on Florida Atlantic on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 6 p.m. and will face FIU on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. The Lady Toppers will be looking to defend an eight-game home winning streak and a perfect 6-0 record at home this season.

Season tickets and single-game tickets for Lady Topper basketball games are now on sale. 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.