HOUSTON, Texas — WKU women's basketball (4-6, 1-0 C-USA) had another comeback on the road, finding themselves down 12 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but the Lady Toppers fought back to earn a 79-74 win at Rice (9-2, 0-2 C-USA) on Thursday night in Houston.
"I'm really proud of these young ladies," said head coach Greg Collins. "We talked about it in the huddle that we were down seven, not 17. I have to keep them focused that we're in ball games. They let their emotions sometimes affect their play when things don't go the way they want it to, and understand that – they're young. I just reminded them that we were right there and we just needed to hit some of these shots."
Four Lady Toppers finished in double figures. Mya Meredith and Jaylin Foster led the team in scoring with 15 points each. Meredith also had six rebounds and Foster had four steals and three assists. Alexis Mead had 11 points, five assists and two steals. Macey Blevins also had 11 points along with two rebounds and two assists.
WKU had season highs in 3-pointers made (12), assists (18), field goal percentage (46.7) and 3-point percentage (44.4).
The Lady Toppers are now 8-1 in C-USA openers all-time. WKU also improves to 5-6 against Rice all-time and evens the series in Houston, 4-4.
Rice started the game on a hot streak, shooting 76.9 percent (10-13) from the floor, including 62.5 percent from three (5-8) to take a 26-16 lead. WKU had their offensive spark in the second quarter, outscoring the Owls 26-17 in the period. The third period was WKU's worst of the season, scoring just nine points to Rice's 17.
The Lady Toppers fell behind by 12 to start the fourth quarter. From there, WKU made six threes in the span of seven minutes. Acacia Hayes got things started at the 9:27 mark, Mead followed at 7:53, then Foster at 7:21, Hope Sivori at 6:35 and then Blevins at 6:04 and 2:57. After the second three from Blevins, WKU took a 3-point lead.
Rice came down and tied the game on the next possession with a three of their own. With 1:32 left, an Owl made 1-of-2 free throws to retake the lead. WKU then went on a 6-0 run with a jumper from Hayes, a layup from Josie Gilvin and a pair of free throws from Macey. Rice made a jumper with seven seconds left to bring the game back to a single possession game, but Hayes made good on a pair of free throws to seal the win.
How to Follow the Lady Toppers: For complete information on Lady Topper Hoops, 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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