Lady Toppers Win Defensive Battle Against Jax State

Saturday, February 10

Bowling Green, Ky.

2 PM

Western Kentucky University

15-10,6-4CUSA

Jacksonville State

9-13,4-6CUSA

Jacksonville St.

Western Ky.

Odeth Betancourt | Photo by: Steve Roberts

Photo by: Steve Roberts/WKU Athletics

2/10/2024 6:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU women's basketball (15-10, 6-4 CUSA) secured a second straight win on Saturday afternoon in E.A. Diddle Arena with a 54-45 victory against Jacksonville State (9-13, 4-6 CUSA). It gave the Lady Toppers a regular season sweep of the Gamecocks after previously defeating the team, 62-52, in Jacksonville.

"I'm proud of how they've adjusted because we've had to adjust how we play quite a bit based on health and depth and experience," said head coach Greg Collins. "I couldn't be more proud of this group for how they work on executing a game plan. I told them in the huddle after the game, I don't care who plays and I don't care how we play - all I want to do is win. That's it."

Sophomore Josie Gilvin had a career game, finishing with 14 points, four steals, three rebounds, two assists and two blocks. It was a career high in points for Gilvin. Alexis Mead had a second straight game in double figures with 12 points along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Aaliyah Pitts led the team on the boards, pulling down nine rebounds. Over the last four games, Pitts is averaging 7.0 rebounds per game.

It was the fourth time this season WKU has held a team below 50 points which is the most for a WKU team since 2017-18 when the Lady Toppers held six teams below 50. The Lady Toppers are 4-0 this season when holding teams below 50, 7-1 holding teams below 60 and 15-3 holding teams to less than 70 points.

The Lady Toppers forced Jacksonville State into 23 turnovers. WKU is 12-2 this season when the opponent turns the ball over 20-or-more times. The Lady Toppers logged 13 steals on those miscues, improving to 12-3 this season when recording double digit takeaways.

Gilvin scored the first five points of the game on a three and a jumper to give WKU an early 5-0 lead. The two teams went back and forth for the rest of the quarter and WKU took a 13-11 lead into the second quarter.

Jacksonville State tied the game with a pair of free throws to open the second quarter after both teams went scoreless for the first 2:22 of the period. Both teams exchanged a sets of free throws over the next minute to bring the score to 15-15 at the 7:05 mark. The teams went another scoring drought, this time for 2:29. WKU broke the drought with a 5-0 run before a pair of free throws from the Gamecocks put Jacksonville State back in the scoring column. WKU scored four straight points, but Jacksonville State ended the quarter on a 5-0 run, giving WKU a 24-22 lead at halftime.

WKU opened the second half on a 7-0 run to push that lead out to 31-22. From there, Jacksonville State outscored WKU 7-2 over the next three minutes. The Lady Toppers responded by ending the quarter on a 10-2 scoring run of their own to take a 12-point lead into the final quarter.

The two teams traded baskets to open the fourth quarter, but a 7-0 run by Jacksonville State cut the score to four with 2:41 left in the game. Caitlin Staley scored on WKU's next possession to put WKU back ahead by six and Karris Allen came up with a steal on the Gamecocks' next play. WKU turned the ball over, but got it right back on a steal. Allen connected on a three to give WKU a 54-45 win.

The Lady Toppers will hit the road for a two-game road trip next week. WKU will take on UTEP in El Paso on Thursday, Feb. 15 and then face New Mexico State on Saturday, Feb. 17.

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.