InsideHilltopperSports.com - Lady Tops Win Exhibition Opener Handily

November 2, 2009

Jason Stamm
InsideHilltopperSports.com Editor

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The Lady Toppers were missing shots. A few too many of them.

But they hustled, scrapped and stuck with those misses. They also busted their tails elsewhere on the floor.

Just into the second half, senior guard Kenzie Rich dove for and fought for a loose ball in front of the visitor's bench. The ball went off the Lindsey Wilson player and out of bounds.

On the ensuing possession, Rich nailed a three-pointer in front of her own bench.

All night, Rich was one of the primary catalysts, with a game-high 21 points as the Lady Toppers got their season going in a good way with a 96-63 rout of Lindsey Wilson in WKU's first exhibition game.

"Overall, we played really good," Rich said. "We played really hard. Even if things weren't going our way, we still played hard. We have some things to work on."

It was also the return of senior forward Dominique Duck, who injured her knee last season and red-shirted the rest of the season. She finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.

"I'm more confident with my knee now, where last year I was kinda iffy with it," Duck said. "This year, I know I'm full-go and I can do the things that I used to do."

Another big boost came from the play of WKU's newcomers, in guards Lashay Davis and Courtney Clifton. While Clifton had a solid ten points, Davis was particularly effective. She played a team-high 26 minutes (along with Rich) and finished with 14 points.

She also spent much of her time at point guard.

"I was really nervous at first, because it was my first game," Davis said. "I think my teammates really helped out a lot. They talked to me and told me what to do and what to run and help keep everything in check."

The Lady Toppers got off to a slow start however, going 12-39 from the field in the first half for a 37-25 lead. But in the second half, the shooting improved dramatically, to 61.1 percent.

Coach Mary Taylor Cowles said she chalked a lot of the beginning troubles to jitters of the season's first game.

"We saw a little bit of jitters from the fact that basketball season has begun," Cowles said. "It was a good thing for us to get out and play a different opponent. That's why we play these exhibition games, to try to get a good measure on kinda where we are and what we've been able to accomplish in about two and a half weeks. All in all, I think we saw some really good things."

The Lady Toppers' aggression and determination proved to be the biggest launching point. WKU grabbed 50 rebounds, 24 of which came offensively. The Lady Toppers also came away with 14 steals and converted 27 turnovers into 33 points.

There's still a lot to improve. The Lady Toppers will have another game in which to do so, an exhibition game Sunday against Brescia.

"The coaches realize, everybody saw that we were playing really hard offensively and defensively," Rich said. "We have to work on some things, boxing out, help-side defense, stuff like that. We already know that we need to work on that."

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