HOUSTON — The WKU women's basketball team used a dominant second half to improve to 11-4 on the season and 4-0 in Conference USA play. The Lady Toppers have won six straight games and 10 of their last 11.
Meral Abdelgawad had her fourth 30-point game of the season with 33 points to go along with five rebounds and three steals. She moves into a tie with Tashia Brown for the fourth most 30-point games by a Lady Topper in a single season, behind Crystal Kelly (7 and 5) and Brenda Chapman (5).
Mya Meredith continued her impressive freshman season with her third 20-point performance in the last four games with 20 points on the night. Meredith also tied her career high with eight rebounds and set a new career high with five steals along with two blocks.
Hope Sivori added seven points while Macey Blevins and Teresa Faustino each had five. Alexis Mead had four points along with four rebounds and four assists. Jaylin Foster also had four points and four rebounds.
Foster scored the first points of the game on a layup from a Meredith pass. It was the eighth time this season WKU has scored first in a game and the Lady Toppers are 7-1 on the season when doing so.
Rice used an 8-0 run to take the lead. Abdelgawad made good on an and-one opportunity to end the run and get WKU back within three. The two teams traded baskets, but an 8-0 run from WKU put the Lady Toppers back on top. The run was fueled by threes from Meredith and Abdelgawad plus a layup from Abdelgawad. Rice made a 3-pointer with under a minute left in the period to draw even, 15-15.
The Owls scored the first six points of the second quarter to take a 21-15 lead, but WKU responded with a 10-0 run to once again take the lead. Rice outscored WKU 8-7 throughout the rest of the quarter, but the Lady Toppers took a 32-29 lead into halftime.
WKU outscored Rice 21-19 in the third with 14 of those 21 points coming from Abdelgawad. The Lady Toppers closed out the fourth quarter, topping the Owls 25-13. Overall, WKU outscored Rice 46-22 in the second half.
WKU improves to 48-13 when holding opponents below 70 points and on the flip side improve to 41-11 when scoring more than 70 under head coach Greg Collins. The Lady Toppers have held three straight opponents below 70 and eight total times this season.
The Lady Toppers will continue their Texas road trip against North Texas on Saturday in Denton. Tipoff is set for 2 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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