Lady Toppers drop road contest at Illinois

1 hour ago

WNKY Staff,

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – WKU women’s basketball (2-4) fell to Illinois (5-1) on the road on Wednesday evening in Champaign, Illinois, 70-41. The Lady Toppers will be back in action on Sunday at Southern Illinois

HOW IT HAPPENED

Torri James, Tia Shelling, Mya Pratcher, Zsofia Telegdy and Jeniffer Silva were the first five on the court for WKU. The Lady Toppers have used five different starting lineups through six games this season.

The first points of the game came from an Illinois free throw, but WKU took a 2-1 lead on the next possession on a basket from Silva. After an Illini layup, WKU scored five straight points to reclaim the lead behind a shot block beating three from Caleigh-Rose West and a basket from Pratcher. Illinois responded with a 5-0 run of their own to take a one-point lead, but WKU once again scored five straight to claim a four-point lead with 29 seconds left in the quarter. Illinois scored just before the break to bring the score to a WKU 12-10 lead going into the second period.

Illinois opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run to take a five-point lead with 8:12 left in the first half. The Lady Toppers answered back with a 7-0 run of their own behind another three from West and buckets from James and Pratcher. From there, the Illini outscored WKU 10-4, including two 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds, to take a 27-23 lead into halftime.

The two teams exchanged baskets to start the third quarter. The Illini gained some ground with back-to-back buckets. The two teams went back and forth until the 3:09 mark when Illinois began a 10-3 run fueled by five made free throws. Illinois took a 46-34 lead into the final quarter. Illinois outscored WKU 24-7 in the fourth quarter.

NOTABLES

Torri James led WKU in scoring with 12 points. It was her second double-digit performance of the season and her first time leading the Lady Toppers in points. She is the fifth leading scorer for WKU this season through six games.
Caleigh-Rose West added 10 points off the bench, tying her career high. She pulled down a season high five rebounds.
Mya Pratcher had a season high eight points along with five rebounds.
Lola Bond had a career high four rebounds.

UP NEXT

The Lady Toppers will be back in Illinois on Sunday, Nov. 30 to face Southern Illinois. Tipoff is set for 2:00 PM in Carbondale.