Sluggish Offensive Night Dooms Lady Toppers in Loss

Thursday, January 18

Bowling Green, Ky.

6:30 PM

Western Kentucky University

12-7,3-1CUSA

New Mexico State

7-9,1-2CUSA

New Mexico St.

Western Ky.

Odeth Betancourt | Photo by: Steve Roberts

Photo by: Steve Roberts/WKU Athletics

1/18/2024 9:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU women's basketball (12-7, 3-1 CUSA) was unable to overcome a tough offensive night against New Mexico State (7-9, 1-2 CUSA), falling 50-44 on Thursday night in E.A. Diddle Arena.

"All night there was too much individual play and not enough team play," said head coach Greg Collins. "We talked about it at halftime. We felt like there was a lot of dribbling to look for my shot instead of looking for my teammate. The few times we moved the ball, we got good shots. It came down to dribbling ourselves into trouble. Nineteen turnovers is way too high for a low possession game. We outrebounded them by one, but there were way too many second chance opportunities, especially down the stretch, where we're just now boxing out and getting our hands on the ball. It's something we work on, we preach it, we run for not doing it, but tonight we did a really poor job of ending those possessions with a defensive rebound."

The Lady Toppers had season lows in points scored (44), made threes (2), 3-point shooting percentage (11.1%), made free throws (6) and free throw shooting percentage (54.5%). WKU's 11 free throw attempts were tied as a season low for the Lady Toppers.

Alexis Mead and Acacia Hayes were the leading scorers for WKU with nine points each. Mead also had a team-leading four assists. Odeth Betancourt led the team on the boards, pulling down seven rebounds. Teresa Faustino had a season high six rebounds and team-leading three steals. Karris Allen had three block, tying her career high.

Betancourt scored the first points of the game just 13 seconds in. New Mexico State outscored the Lady Toppers 7-2 through the next four minutes, but WKU used a 9-5 run to take a 1-point lead. The Aggies scored the final five points of the quarter to take a 17-13 lead into the second quarter.

Hayes cut the lead to two with a layup to start the second quarter, but a three from New Mexico State pushed the Aggies back ahead by five. The two teams traded points and then WKU went on an 8-0 run, that was made up of four points from Josie Gilvin and four from Allen, to take a 3-point lead with 1:40 left. The Aggies once again ended the quarter on a run, this time 4-0, to take a 26-25 lead at halftime.

Both teams struggled to score in the third quarter. The Aggies edged WKU 10-9 in the frame to go into the final quarter ahead 36-34.

Mead scored the first points of the fourth quarter on a free throw to draw within a point of the Aggies. New Mexico State responded by scoring six straight to take a 42-25 lead. On the next possession, Hayes was fouled and made the first of two foul shots. She missed her second but Caitlin Staley came up with the offensive board and was fouled on the putback. She made her free throw to give WKU a 4-point possession, swinging the score back to within three.

WKU put New Mexico State on the free throw line twice in the next two possessions and the Aggies made 3-of-4. Mead responded with a personal 5-0 run to once again cut the lead down to one. The Lady Toppers got the steal on New Mexico State's next possession but turned the ball over on offense. The Aggies ran the clock down to 46 seconds left and drew a foul, making both from the free throw line. Down three, WKU attempted a three for the tie but came up short and New Mexico State retained possession with 36 seconds left. From there, the Aggies made 3-of-4 from the charity stripe to seal the win.

WKU will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 20 at noon against UTEP in Diddle Arena.

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 X, @LadyTopperHoops on Instagram and on Facebook at facebook.com/WKUWomensBasketball.