BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — For a young team, building confidence is key. Wednesday's game against Bellarmine for the WKU women's basketball team was the confidence booster the squad needed. The Lady Toppers (1-3) notched an 82-49 win against the Knights (0-2) in E.A. Diddle Arena.
It was WKU's best offensive game all season, scoring 82 points, shooting 50.8 percent from the field, knocking down 10 3-pointers and seeing all 10 Lady Toppers score. WKU also outrebounded Bellarmine 41-30, and outscored the Knights in the paint 40-22.
Freshman Hope Sivori led all scorers with 15 points and recorded her first double-double with 11 assists while adding five rebounds.
Ally Collett and Fatou Pouye each had 14 points in the game. Collett connected on four 3-pointers. Pouye added six rebounds. Myriah Haywood had a career high 12 points along with three rebounds, three steals and two assists. Meral Abdelgawad was the leading rebounder for the Lady Toppers with nine in the contest to go along with 11 points, four assists and two steals.
The game started out back-and-forth, but WKU ended the first quarter outscoring the Knights 13-4 including three 3-pointers to take a nine-point lead into the second. The second quarter once again started with the two teams trading baskets, but the Lady Toppers ended the half on a 10-0 run for a 39-27 lead going into halftime.
Bellarmine scored the first two buckets of the second half, but WKU responded with an 11-0 run that ended when the Knights shot their first free throws of the night. During that run, four different Lady Toppers scored.
Sivori went on a roll in the fourth quarter, notching seven of her 11 assists in the frame leading the Lady Toppers to outscore the Knights 23-10.
The Lady Toppers will have a quick turnaround, hosting Mercer on Friday at 6 p.m. in Diddle Arena. It's the second game of a five-game homestand and a stretch of three games in six days for WKU.
THE KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT FOR PUBLIC HEALTH – WHEN IT COMES TO TOBACCO, QUITTERS ALWAYS WIN
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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