BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The WKU women's basketball team extended its winning streak to eight games on Saturday afternoon in E.A. Diddle Arena against UTSA with an 85-57 win. The Lady Toppers have now won 12-straight home games and are a perfect 10-0 in Diddle this season.
WKU improves to 18-6 on the season and 10-3 in Conference USA. The Lady Toppers have won at least 10 games in C-USA in every season since joining the league in 2014-15 and have a streak of eight consecutive season with 10-plus wins in conference play.
WKU caught fire from 3-point range in the first half, making 10 3-pointers. That mark is a season high for the Lady Toppers in a game.
"It helped our confidence to see the ball go in a little bit more than it has been," said head coach Greg Collins. "Different players have been having good games. Dee Givens has had good games, Alexis Brewer has had good games, Whitney Creech has had good games, but it was good to see multiple people make multiple shots."
Dee Givens and Raneem Elgedawy led the Lady Toppers in scoring with 19 points apiece. Elgedawy added seven rebounds in 24 minutes of play. Both players also had three steals and both shot 7-of-15 from the field. Four of Givens' field goals were 3-pointers.
Meral Abdelgawad joined the duo in double figures with 13 points. She was 3-of-6 from range and added four rebounds and two assists. Whitney Creech scored nine points and dished out four assists.
De'Myla Brown played a season-high 13 minutes and had five points, three assists and three steals in the game.
All 10 Lady Toppers that saw action on Saturday scored in the game.
The Lady Toppers pounced early, taking a 25-11 lead in the first quarter. Alexis Brewer scored the first points of the game on a 3-point basket and Elgedawy quickly followed up with a bucket of her own. After UTSA scored their first points, Givens made back-to-back 3-pointers. The Roadrunners answered with a layup, but Abdelgawad answered with a three of her own. Creech added a three as well to give the Lady Topper five threes in the first quarter, shooting 5-of-11 from range.
WKU outdid that percentage in the second quarter, going 5-of-9 from three. Givens once again hit back-to-back threes, sparking a 13-1 run by WKU. During that stretch, Givens had six points, Fatou Pouye had four and Abdelgawad had three. The Roadrunners broke the run with a layup, but Brown hit a three to give the Lady Toppers a 25-point lead.
Elgedawy got hot in the third period, scoring 12 of her points in the frame. Both teams traded baskets early in the third, but an 8-0 run by the Lady Toppers led WKU to outscore UTSA 16-10 in the final five minutes of the quarter.
The fourth quarter provided opportunities for Brown, Myriah Haywood, Fatou Pouye, Sandra Skinner and Hya Haywood. Those five played the majority of the minutes of the fourth.
WKU forced UTSA into 22 turnovers, capitalizing on 21 points on the miscues. The Lady Toppers improve to 8-2 on the season when causing 20-plus turnovers. WKU only turned the ball over nine times in the game, tying their season low.
Ball protection was a strong point for WKU on the night, limiting UTSA to only two steals and recording 16 assists. That's now seven-straight games of double digit assists for the Lady Toppers, improving to 16-2 on the season when achieving the feat.
The Lady Toppers will stay home to host Marshall on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. Then WKU travels to Florida Atlantic on Saturday, Feb. 22 to start the extra games added on the schedule by C-USA. The games were determined in December.
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.
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