Lady Toppers Fall on the Road at No. 8 Vanderbilt

WKU Athletics Media Release

42 minutes ago

WNKY Staff,

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – WKU women’s basketball (2-1) fell to No. 8 Vanderbilt, 101-59, on Wednesday evening in Nashville. Four Lady Toppers finished with double figure points with junior Hayven Smith leading the way with a career high 15 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After winning the tipoff, WKU was the first team to put points on the board. Trinity Rowe connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give WKU an early 3-0 lead. After a Vanderbilt basket on the next possession, Hayven Smith gave WKU a 5-2 lead with a jumper in the paint. The Commodores cut into that lead with a pair of free throws, but Rowe’s second three of the night put WKU back ahead 8-4. Vanderbilt scored again, but a baseline jumper from Torri James put WKU ahead 10-6. The Lady Toppers held a 12-9 lead with 6:46 left in the quarter when Vanderbilt used a 9-0 run to take the lead for the first time. From there the Commodores outscored WKU 22-6 to take a 31-18 lead into the second quarter.

WKU struggled with Vanderbilt’s full-court pressure in the second quarter, scoring just seven points and turning the ball over 12 times. The Commodores were ahead 57-25 at halftime.

The Lady Toppers bounced back in the third quarter, scoring 21 points in the frame. Smith had seven of those points and James added six.

NOTABLES

Hayven Smith led WKU in scoring with a career high 15 points along with a season high five rebounds.
Torri James had her best game of the season, putting up a season high 12 points.
Josie Gilvin scored in double figures for the third straight game, notching 10 points along with six rebounds and four assists.
Trinity Rowe had her first double digit game of the season, scoring 10 points to go with three rebounds and three assists.
Kamille Brown had two career highs with six rebounds and six assists.
The four Lady Toppers in double digit points were the most in a game for WKU this season.
WKU continued to shoot well from the free throw line, going 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. The Lady Toppers are shooting 83.1 percent from the free throw line as a team.

UP NEXT

The Lady Toppers will return home to host Kentucky State on Monday, Nov. 16 at 6:30 PM in E.A. Diddle Arena.