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The Lady Toppers (20-7, 11-4 CUSA) had two players finish with double-doubles and four score in double digits against the Miners (10-16, 3-12 CUSA). Josie Gilvin had a 21-piont, 11-rebound double-double while Alexis Mead finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Destiny Salary added 17 points and Acacia Hayes had 12.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UTEP scored first, but WKU responded by scoring five straight including a three from Alexis Mead. After a pair of free throws from the Miners, WKU added on to the lead with a 5-0 run. UTEP used a 9-2 run to take a one-point lead with 4:18 left in the quarter. The Lady Toppers responded with a 14-5 scoring run that included 11 points from Josie Gilvin. In the last five minutes of the quarter, Gilvin scored 13 total points. WKU took a 26-18 lead into the second quarter.
After Gilvin's first quarter, Destiny Salary took over in the second. She scored 12 of WKU's 16 points in the quarter helping WKU outscore the Miners 16-11 to take a 42-29 lead into halftime.
The Lady Toppers outscored UTEP 39-29 in the second half to clinch the 23-point victory.
NOTABLES
- Josie Gilvin has recorded four straight double-doubles and has led the team in scoring in six games this season, including three straight.
- Alexis Mead recorded her first career double-double and had a season high in rebounds. She moved into sixth place on WKU's career assists list with 445 and is tied for the seventh most starts as a Lady Topper.
- Acacia Hayes become the 44th member of the 1,000 Point Club at WKU during the game.
- The 20 wins marks the first 20-win season for WKU since 2019-20 and third under head coach Greg Collins.
- With the win, WKU locks up a top four seed in the CUSA Championship in Huntsville, Alabama in March.
- The Lady Toppers improve to 11-2 at home this season.
- WKU is now 9-4 against UTEP all-time and 4-1 against the Miners in Bowling Green.
- It was the 13th time this season WKU has had at least four double digit scorers. The Lady Toppers are 9-4 in those games.
- WKU improves to 99-26 under Collins and 18-2 this season when holding teams below 70 and 50-9 under Collins and 10-0 this season when holding teams below 60.
- The Lady Toppers improve to 76-20 under Collins and 12-2 on the season when scoring 70-or-more points and 34-6 under Collins and 6-0 this season when scoring over 80.
- The Lady Toppers finished with 18 assists. WKU is 14-1 this season when notching 15-or-more helpers and has had double digit assists in all but one game this.
- WKU shot 50.0 percent (33-66) from the field. It was the fourth time this season the Lady Toppers have shot 50 percent or better in a game and are 4-0 when doing so. WKU is 18-1 this season when shooting a better percentage than their opponents.
- WKU was being outrebounded 8-1 through the first five minutes of play, but ended outrebounding UTEP 39-26 in the game. The Lady Toppers improve to 9-2 this season when outrebounding their opponents.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Greg Collins:
"I've said all year, that's who we are. That's why we have four kids averaging double figures. I was proud of how they responded on the boards, because we did the same thing at Louisiana Tech. We were getting our tails handed to us at halftime on the boards at Louisiana Tech and then here in the first quarter. We just responded and ended up winning the rebounding battle."
Junior guard Josie Gilvin:
"We're just looking to find more fundamental shots, easy shots. Taking care of the ball has been an emphasis these last few games."
Senior guard Alexis Mead:
"It's pretty fun out there. Seeing everyone have their own success is fun for all of us. It also helps us to work on things when we have a lead."
NEXT UP
The Lady Toppers close out the home portion of the regular season on Saturday, March 1 with New Mexico State at 2 p.m. It will be Senior Day for Alexis Mead, Mariama Sow and Destiny Salary.
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.
