Lady Toppers’ furious rally falls short

Published 3:54 pm Sunday, January 5, 2025

By Micheal Compton

The Western Kentucky women’s basketball team has had a knack for fourth-quarter comebacks in recent years under head coach Greg Collins.

In Saturday’s game against Florida International, WKU was in position to complete one of its most impressive comebacks yet. The comeback wasn’t in the cards, with Alexis Mead’s runner in the lane hitting off the backboard and falling to the ground – allowing FIU to hold on for an 80-79 win at E.A. Diddle Arena.

WKU (9-5 overall, 0-2 Conference USA) trailed by 14 points with three minutes to go, but had a look at the game winner that just missed the mark to give the Lady Toppers a third straight loss.

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FIU (5-8, 1-1), which was held to 38 points at Middle Tennessee on Thursday, survived by shooting a scorching 68% from the field and outrebounding WKU 44-20.

“Had Lex made that, we would have been ecstatic about pulling it out, but FIU outplayed us,” Collins said. “I’m not sure we deserved to win. We would have been glad to get it and escape, but they shot the ball almost 70% from the field. Our defense was porous. They kept driving our guards to the basket, that’s why they got 50 points in the paint. We got outrebounded again. I know we’re outsized a little bit, but it’s hard to win when you’re getting beat on both ends.”

WKU set the tone early, racing out to a 21-10 lead, but missed eight straight shots that allowed FIU to get back in the game and cut the deficit to 26-21 after one.

Florida International opened the second quarter with a 12-0 run to surge in front. The lead grew to 10 points as the Panthers were an eye-popping 19-for-24 from the field in the half. WKU was able to get a little closer – with Caleigh Rose-West’s 3-pointer in the final seconds cutting the deficit to 44-39 at the half.

WKU briefly regained the advantage three minutes into the second half with an 8-0 spurt that gave the Lady Toppers a 47-46 lead. FIU responded with six straight to regain control and was able to keep some distance, leading by eight after quarters and expanding to as much as 15 in the fourth.

FIU was in front 76-72 with 3:02 left when the Lady Toppers frantically tried to rally. WKU forced 15 fourth-quarter turnovers, including six steals from Josie Gilvin, to quickly erase the deficit.

The Lady Toppers only needed 30 seconds to score seven points and trim the deficit in half. Two FIU free throws made the score 78-69 with 2:33 remaining, but WKU answered with six straight to bring the deficit down to three.

After FIU hit a pair of free throws to make the score 80-75, Mead’s basket with 1:10 left made it a one-possession game again.

WKU had a chance to tie but Mead’s 3 rimmed off, and then Caleigh-West hit two free throws with 9.2 seconds remaining to make the score 80-79.

WKU’s defense forced one more turnover, setting the stage for potential heroics but Mead’s runner off the glass didn’t find the mark sending the Lady Toppers to a ninth straight loss in Conference USA play dating back to last season.

“Lexi has made that shot a bunch for us,” Collins said. “She turned the corner, was aware of the time and got a good look at it but just put it up there too hard. We went over to her after and said, ‘You’re a tough player. You’re a winner. I would put that ball back in your hands again anytime.’

“Nobody wanted to win this game any more than Alexis Mead. She would love to have that shot back.”

Destiny Salary led WKU with 21 points before fouling out in the final minutes. Mead added 20 points and Hayes finished with 19 points.

“That’s a hard loss,” Hayes said. “It hurts to lose like that, especially how well we played at the end right there, but it’s over. We have to come back and do better.”

Gilvin nearly recorded a triple-double, finishing with a school record 11 steals, nine points and eight assists.

WKU forced 38 turnovers that led to a 38-17 advantage in points off turnovers, but shot 40% from the field – including 9-for-35 from 3-point range.

“We were just too comfortable letting the 3-ball fly and nobody except for Acacia was really hitting it out there,” Collins said. “There’s a reason sometimes you are open there. We had four that were 0-fer from the 3-point line. We work on shooting that 3, but sometimes we are a little too quick to pull that trigger.”

Angena Belloso and Parris Akins scored 23 points each for FIU. Former Lady Topper Aaliyah Pitts added a double-double finishing with 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Since starting 7-0, WKU has dropped four of the last five and five out of the last seven.

“We are 0-2, but that doesn’t determine the next 16 games,” Collins said. “We’ve got 16 more conference games, so how we respond to this adversity determines our future. We have to really bounce back from this. It’s got to make us tougher. We have to keep our faith and our belief strong and we have to get back in the gym and focus on the simple and little things that we do to be successful.”

About Micheal Compton

I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.

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