Lady Toppers fall at home to Kennesaw State on Education Day

3 hours ago

WNKY Staff,

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU women’s basketball (5-18, 1-11 CUSA) dropped a 55-51 decision to Kennesaw State (12-11, 5-7 CUSA) on Thursday afternoon in E.A. Diddle Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Torri James, Tia Shelling, Trinity Rowe, Zsofia Telegdy and Salma Khedr were the first five on the court for WKU for the third consecutive game. It is the sixth time this season the group has started a game together.

Kennesaw State took an early 4-0 lead, but WKU responded with a 7-0 run behind a three from Rowe and a couple of baskets from James. After the Owls scored again, WKU when back ahead by four after a bucket from Telegdy and a made free throw from James. From there, Kennesaw State closed out the quarter outscoring WKU 10-5 to take a 16-15 lead into the second quarter.

A three from the Owls with 7:51 left in the second quarter put Kennesaw State ahead by four, but a technical foul assessed to a Kennesaw State player put Rowe on the free throw line where she made both to cut it to two. WKU scored again a minute later to tie the game. In the last six minutes, Kennesaw State edged WKU 4-3 in scoring to take a 25-24 lead into halftime.

Telegdy scored the first seven points of the second quarter for WKU, putting the Tops ahead by two with 6:16 left. Kennesaw State tied the game a little under a minute later, but WKU rattled off six straight points to take a 37-31 lead with 4:31 left. The Owls went on a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead, but WKU closed out the quarter with five straight points to take a 42-38 lead into the fourth.

The Owls erased that lead with a 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter. A steal and a basket from Shelling tied the score, but the Owls came right back with a basket of their own. A bucket and foul shot for James put WKU back ahead and Telegdy made a midrange jumper to give WKU a three-point lead with 4:52 left. From there, Kennesaw State outscored WKU 9-2 to end the game and clinch the win.

QUOTABLE

“Shout out to all the schools, all the teachers, all the bus drivers, all the chaperones to make sure the kids get in,” said head coach Greg Collins. “They look forward to this. We talked all week about the kids are going to bring energy and it was our job to bring energy to the floor. If we put that energy in on the floor, they’ll reflect that energy back to us. I thought our girls did a great job of coming out and playing with some passion and excitement. It was just unfortunate we didn’t play well enough to win the ball game.”

NOTABLES

Torri James was the leading scorer for WKU with 12 points to go along with five rebounds, one assist and a block. James’ 12 points were the most for the sophomore since scoring 12 against New Mexico State on Jan. 8.
Trinity Rowe had 11 points, seven assists and three rebounds. It was Rowe’s third double digit performance in the last four games and the sixth time this season the sophomore has had at least five assists in a game.
Zsofia Telegdy added 11 points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks. The two blocks tied a season high. It was the 10th time this season Telegdy has scored in double digits.
The game was the 11th Education Game for WKU since the 2013-14 season. Attendance was called at 2,621.

UP NEXT

The Lady Toppers will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 2 PM against Jacksonville State in E.A. Diddle Arena.