MANHATTAN, Kan. — WKU women's basketball notched its first win of the season on Friday in the first game of the Preseason WNIT in Manhattan, Kansas with an 86-76 victory against North Carolina A&T.
The Lady Toppers connected on 14 triples, tying a school single game record previously reached against Iowa on Nov. 11 2017. WKU shot 43.8 percent from 3-point range and 48.4 percent from the field in the game.
It was head coach Greg Collins' 50th win as head coach at WKU, moving him into a tie with Eileen Caty for the fifth most wins in Lady Topper history.
It was once again a balanced effort for WKU with nine players in the scoring column with five in double figures. Freshman Mya Meredith led all scorers with 20 points in just her second collegiate game. Teresa Faustino and Hope Sivori each had 14 in the game and Jaylin Foster added 10 along with a team-leading five assists. Meral Abdelgawad led the squad on the glass with six rebounds.
The first quarter was back-and-forth with two ties and five lead changes. WKU ended the frame ahead 17-15.
The Lady Toppers had an offensive outburst in the second quarter, scoring 32 points in the period. That's the most in a quarter for WKU since Jan. 6, 2019 against Louisiana Tech when the Lady Toppers also scored 32.
WKU got off to an 11-0 run to start the quarter, powered by three 3-pointers from Meredith. The Aggies cut the lead back down to single digits with a 4-0 run in response, but that was the last time in the first half North Carolina A&T would be within 10.
At the 3:36 mark of the third quarter, Meredith connected on another three to give WKU its largest lead of the game at 62-44. At the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, the Aggies used a 16-4 run to get back within six of WKU. The Lady Toppers responded with a 9-2 run of their own to push it back out to 13 and held on to clinch a 10-point win.
The Lady Toppers improved to 35-10 under Collins when scoring 70-or-more points and 18-5 when scoring 80-or-more. The WKU freshmen combined to score 47 of WKU's 86 points and are currently scoring 40.5 percent of WKU's points on the season.
WKU improves to 10-4 all-time in the Preseason WNIT with the win.
It was the first meeting between WKU and North Carolina A&T in the two programs' histories. The Aggies were a NCAA Tournament team in 2020-21.
WKU will be back in action on Sunday, Nov. 14 in its second game in the Preseason WNIT. The Lady Toppers will play the host school, Kansas State, at 1 p.m.
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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