WKU WBB: Lady Toppers Bounce Back With Impressive Defensive Showing Against Jax State

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU women’s basketball (6-18, 2-11 CUSA) got back into the win column on Saturday afternoon in E.A. Diddle Arena with a 56-41 win against Jacksonville State (12-13, 6-7 CUSA).

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 fourth consecutive game. It is the seventh time this season the group has started a game together.

The Lady Toppers fell behind early; spotting Jax State a 9-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game with all of the Gamecocks’ points coming from 3-point range. WKU responded with a 7-0 run to get back within two, but Jax State closed out the quarter with four straight points to take a 13-7 lead into the second.

After a Jax State 3-pointer to start the second quarter, WKU turned up the defensive pressure and forced two turnovers that led to two Shelling layups, cutting the lead down to five. The two teams went back and forth, but a 13-2 run by the Lady Toppers helped WKU claim a three-point lead with 47 seconds left. During that stretch, Tatum Boettjer made two 3-points and Khedr poured in seven points. Jax State made a pair of free throws to cut the WKU lead down to one and then a Gamecock player made a floater at the buzzer to retake a 27-26 lead to go into halftime.

WKU went on a massive 13-0 run to start the second half to go ahead by double digits. The run was stopped by a Jax State three, but WKU added five more before the Gamecocks could score again. The Lady Toppers took a 46-33 lead into the final quarter. WKU forced Jax State into 12 turnovers in the frame, getting eight steals off the miscues and scoring 12 points off the turnovers.

WKU outscored Jax State 10-8 in the final frame to clinch the 56-41 win.

QUOTABLE

“We made some shots,” said head coach Greg Collins. “That helps. We’ve gone through stretches where we just can’t buy a bucket. We were really trying to make sure we got the ball inside. You saw in the first quarter we had a tendency to just play around the 3-point line. That’s why we made some of the changes we made. We work on getting paint touches. When we got back to that focus, it changed. We were getting to the free throw line a little bit and making free throws. We were making some shots and that makes those perimeter shots easier when you collapse the defense into the paint. I think that was a big difference.”

NOTABLES

• Salma Khedr was the leading scorer for WKU with 16 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals. It was the eighth time this season she has led the team in scoring. It was her 12th double digit game of the season and her best offensive game since scoring 18 against Liberty on Jan. 22.
• Tatum Boettjer added 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting from 3-point range. It was the fourth time this season she’s had double digit points, and it was her best scoring game since scoring 12 at Kennesaw State on Jan. 4.
• Tia Shelling had 10 points to go along with five steals, four rebounds and an assist. It was the most points she has scored since scoring 10 at North Dakota on Dec. 14. It was the sixth time this season she’s scored in double digits and the fourth time she’s had at least five steals. She’s had five steals in back-to-back games after achieving the feat against Kennesaw State on Thursday as well.
• Point guard Trinity Rowe finished with six assists. It was the seventh time this season she’s at least five helpers in a game. She also had four steals, tying her career high previously set at North Dakota this season.
• WKU held Jax State to just 41 points. It is the fewest points WKU has allowed in a conference game since holding UTSA to 38 on Jan. 18, 2018. It’s the second fewest points allowed during CUSA play this season for any team in the league. WKU gave up just 14 points to Jax State in the second half. It was the fewest points total in a half for a WKU opponent since Little Rock scored 12 in the first half on Dec. 11, 2022.
• The Lady Toppers forced the Gamecocks into 21 turnovers, the most since forcing 33 at Sam Houston. WKU recorded 14 steals on those miscues, the second most steals this season for the Lady Toppers.
• It was only the sixth time in Greg Collins’ tenure as head coach and the first time this season that WKU has scored fewer than 60 points and won.
• Under Collins, WKU is 107-32 when holding teams below 70 points, 56-14 holding them below 60 and 16-3 when holding teams to less than 50.
• WKU improves to 113-11 under Collins when leading with five minutes left in the game.
• WKU improves to 5-1 all-time against Jax State and 3-0 at home against the Gamecocks.