Lady Toppers’ defense shines in season-opening win
Western Kentucky junior forward Hayven Smith puts up a shot over Chattanooga sophomore forward TaTianna Stovall during the Lady Toppers’ 61-50 win Wednesday at E.A. Diddle Arena.
(STEVE ROBERTS/WKU Athletics)
The shots weren’t always falling, but it didn’t stop the Western Kentucky women’s basketball team from finding a way to pull out a season-opening 61-50 win over Chattanooga on Wednesday at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Despite shooting 32% from the field, WKU (1-0) never trailed – using a strong defensive effort to take control and hold off a second-half charge from Chattanooga (1-1).
“We went through some spells where we had trouble making shots, but they didn’t let that affect their focus or their defensive intensity,” WKU Greg Collins said. “It wasn’t always sharply executed, but they kept playing hard. That has been the key, trying to teach them to keep playing.”
WKU’s defense set the tone in the first quarter, holding the Mocs to one field goal. The Lady Toppers struggled to get going offensively, before a 3-pointer from Trinity Rowe and a layup by Hayven Smith allowed WKU to push its lead to 11-2.
Smith’s layup started a stretch of nine straight points scored by the Illinois transfer. Smith finished with a career-high 13 points and four rebounds.
“Obviously putting the ball in the basket makes everybody more happy,” Smith said. “I feel like once I just get that one I kinda get in this mode where I keep going until I need a sub. Once you get those first ones in there, especially early in the season, it kind of takes a lot of pressure off.”
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WKU’s advantage grew to 27-14 after a layup from Josie Gilvin with three minutes left in the half, but Chattanooga was able to use a 9-1 spurt to trim the deficit to five by halftime.
The Mocs continued to chip away, with a 3 from Lydia Ledford tying the game at 35-all with 3:38 left in the third. Kamille Brown and Jamilla Ray helped right the ship, combining for 10 points in a 10-2 run to close out the quarter and put the Lady Toppers back in control.
Gilvin’s baseline jumper to start the fourth made the score 47-37 before Chattanooga scored the next five to cut the lead in half. Smith connected on a shot in the paint with 8:23 left in the game and the Lady Toppers leaned on defense and free throw shooting over the next seven minutes to maintain control.
Despite going without a field goal, WKU extended the lead – going 6-for-6 from the line and holding the Mocs to four points total in that stretch.
Gilvin ended the drought with a transition bucket that made the score 57-46 and essentially iced the game with 1:06 left.
“We felt a lot more composed today as well,” Smith said. “The exhibition was helpful to kind of get those jitters out, those first-game jitters. Today I felt like we had control of the game the whole time.”
Ray, playing her first collegiate game, led the way with 14 points off the bench – including a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. Gilvin recorded the seventh double-double of her career, scoring 10 points and 10 rebounds in her return to WKU.
“It feels amazing,” Gilvin said. “It was a really good win too, so that helps. It was awesome out there.”
WKU outrebounded Chattanooga 41-27 and held the Mocs to 38.5% shooting. Chattanooga had 19 turnovers, with the Lady Toppers holding a 23-6 advantage in points off turnovers to overcome a 4-for-22 night from 3-point range.
“If you told me that Trinity Rowe was going to be 1-for-8 from the 3-point line and Tatum Boettjer was going to be 1-for-6, I’d say we might be in trouble,” Collins said. “That’s outweighed when you have players that are willing to force 19 turnovers by the other team and they outrebound the other team by four. And you’ve got a freshman like Jamilla Ray getting to the free-throw line going 10-for-10. All of those other little things that maybe are not as highlight worthy as busting a lot of 3s, but that is winning basketball.”
Collins added that Wednesday’s win continues to build confidence for his team.
“The No. 1 thing with this team right now is not teaching basketball,” Collins said. “It is teaching confidence. It’s building confidence. They’ve got to learn what it feels like tonight, that they can do it and they believe in themselves. That’s really the biggest thing. To see them be excited about that game, that is way bigger than free throws or rebounds or anything. That is really the biggest takeaway from tonight.”
WKU will return to action at 2 p.m. on Sunday, hosting Christian Brothers University.
About Micheal Compton
I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.
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