Lady Toppers’ 2021-22 C-USA Schedule Released

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Lady Topper Basketball’s 2021-22 Conference USA schedule has been announced by the league. WKU will play a total of 18 conference games, playing every East division team twice and six West division opponents once.

The Lady Toppers will play an even nine home and nine away conference games. Home matchups include Southern Miss (Dec. 30), Louisiana Tech (Jan. 1), Florida Atlantic (Jan. 20), FIU (Jan. 22), Charlotte (Feb. 3), Old Dominion (Feb. 5), UTSA (Feb. 13), Middle Tennessee (Feb. 26) and Marshall (March 2).

The away schedule is FIU (Jan. 8), Rice (Jan. 13), North Texas (Jan. 15), UAB (Jan. 27), Middle Tennessee (Jan. 29), Florida Atlantic (Feb. 10), Charlotte (Feb. 17), Old Dominion (Feb. 19), Marshall (March 5).

Streaming information and game times will be announced at a later date.

WKU will face Southern Miss for the first time since the 2019-20 season after not playing the Golden Eagles in 2020-21. The Lady Toppers are 6-4 all-time against Southern Miss and 2-2 in Bowling Green against the Golden Eagles. Southern Miss finished last season 7-12 and 5-11 in C-USA play.

Louisiana Tech comes to Bowling Green after splitting with the Lady Toppers in Ruston last season. WKU took the first game, 61-55, but the Lady Techsters bounced back with a 58-52 win in the second meeting. LA Tech leads the series 27-23 all-time, but WKU holds a 15-9 edge in Bowling Green. The Lady Techsters finished last season 14-10 and 8-8 in league play.

WKU also split with FIU on the road last season, claiming a 66-56 victory in the first game and falling 82-79 in the second. The Lady Toppers are 32-10 all-time against the Panthers, including an 18-2 record in Bowling Green and 13-7 record in Miami. C-USA’s 2021 Coach of the Year Jesyka Burks-Wiley guided FIU to a 15-13, 8-8 C-USA record in her first season in Miami.

Rice was the 2021 C-USA West division champions with a 12-2 record in conference play last season. The Owls were 23-4 overall. WKU lost a pair of games in Houston last season, both coming down to the wire. The Jan. 13 matchup will be the fourth straight in Houston in the series between WKU and Rice. The Owls hold a 6-3 advantage against the Lady Toppers, including a 4-2 mark at home. Head coach Lindsay Edmonds will be in her first season at Rice.

WKU and North Texas did not face off in 2020-21 after the originally scheduled series was postponed due to inclement weather in Denton and was not made up. WKU owns a 20-8 record against North Texas, but the series is tied 6-6 in games played in Denton. The Mean Green finished 13-7 overall last season, including a 10-4 record in C-USA.

The Lady Toppers split with Florida Atlantic in Bowling Green last season. Overall, WKU is 21-3 against the Owls including a 12-1 record in Bowling Green and 9-2 record in Boca Raton. The Owls finished 11-11, 8-8 in C-USA last season and will be guided by first year head coach Jennifer Sullivan in 2021-22.

WKU and UAB didn’t play in 2020-21. The Lady Toppers are 19-6 overall against the Blazers and 8-5 in Birmingham. UAB finished 10-13 in 2020-21, including a 3-11 record in C-USA.

Middle Tennessee was the C-USA East division and tournament champion in 2020-21 with a 17-8 overall record and 12-4 record in league play. WKU fell to the Blue Raiders in Bowling Green last season. Middle Tennessee holds a 45-33 advantage against the Lady Toppers, but WKU leads 23-15 in Bowling Green while the Blue Raiders lead 27-9 in Murfreesboro.

WKU and Charlotte played one of the most exciting series of the 2020-21 season in C-USA. The Lady Toppers won the first matchup 100-99 in triple overtime on a buzzer-beating three from Meral Abdelgawad. WKU followed that up with a 65-64 win the next day. The wins kept WKU a perfect 15-0 against the 49ers in Bowling Green and extended a seven-game winning streak against Charlotte. Overall, WKU leads the series 22-5. In Charlotte the series is tied 5-5. The 49ers finished second in the East division last season with a 10-12 overall record and 9-5 C-USA record.

WKU played Old Dominion three straight times in a span of six days to end the 2020-21 season, taking on the Monarchs twice in Norfolk and then again in the first round of the C-USA tournament in Frisco, Texas. The Lady Toppers fell in all three matchups, but lost by a combined difference of 10 points in those three games. WKU is 17-12 against Old Dominion all-time, including a 10-1 record in Bowling Green and 8-6 record in Norfolk. The Monarchs finished last season 13-11 overall and 7-9 in league play.

The Lady Toppers did not play UTSA last season. WKU is 5-2 against the Roadrunners all-time and 3-0 in Bowling Green. UTSA finished last season 2-18 overall and 0-14 in C-USA. The Roadrunners will be led by head coach Karen Aston in her first season in San Antonio.

WKU and Marshall split last season. After falling to the Thundering Herd in Huntington, the Lady Toppers bounced back with a 69-60 win in Bowling Green. WKU is 15-2 all-time against Marshall, including 9-0 in Bowling Green and 6-1 in Huntington. The Thundering Herd finished last season 8-11 overall and 7-9 in conference play.