Lady Toppers Open CUSA Play with Comeback Win on the Road

Saturday, January 6

Lynchburg, VA

1 PM

Western Kentucky University

10-6,1-0CUSA

Liberty

5-11,0-1CUSA

Western Ky.

Liberty

1/6/2024 4:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

LYNCHBURG, Va. — WKU women's basketball (10-6, 1-0 CUSA) came from behind once again, this time coming back from a 15-point deficit to defeat Liberty (5-11, 0-1 CUSA) to open Conference USA play on Saturday afternoon in Lynchburg.

Alexis Mead led the Lady Toppers with 20 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. It was her third 20-point game of the season. Acacia Hayes finished with 19 points, tying her career high in made 3-point field goals with four on the day.

WKU improves to 9-1 in CUSA openers all-time with the win and pick up the program's 1,080th win in program history. It was also head coach Greg Collins' 96th win as head coach at WKU.

It was the fifth time this season WKU has come back from a halftime deficit to win a game. The Lady Toppers are 5-6 on the season when trailing at the half.

Liberty scored the first seven points of the game. A three from Mead stopped the scoring drought for WKU, but the Flames responded with a 10-0 run before a three from Hayes ended the run. From there, WKU outscored Liberty 12-6 through the rest of the quarter to bring the score to 23-15 heading into the second.

The Flames scored the first four points of the second quarter, but Josie Gilvin knocked down a three to keep the run from continuing. That started an 11-5 scoring run for WKU that cut the lead down to 32-26. Liberty used a 9-0 run to go back ahead 41-26. A jumper from Mead made it 41-28 just before halftime.

The Lady Toppers came alive in the third quarter, outscoring Liberty 20-8. Through the first four minutes, the scoring was 10-8, but WKU ended the quarter on a 10-0 run that lasted the final 5:50 of the period. Mead and Faustino each had six points in the quarter and Odeth Betancourt came up big on the boards, pulling down four in the quarter.

WKU took the lead for the first time at the 9:32 mark of the fourth quarter on a jumper in the paint from Allen. Liberty tied the game a minute later, but WKU responded with five straight points. The two teams went back and forth from there. Liberty made a layup with 31 seconds left to cut the lead to two, but Mead made a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to go back ahead by four. With three seconds left, Liberty made a basket to cut it to two. The Flames fouled Mead again with 0.5 seconds left. Mead missed both free throws, but the Flames were unable to get another shot off.

WKU will be back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 10 against Sam Houston in Bowling Green. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.

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.