Tashia Brown scored a game-high 26 points and was one of four Lady Toppers in double figures as WKU cruised past Mississippi Valley State, 87-48, on Tuesday evening inside E.A. Diddle Arena.
The 26-point outburst was Brown’s seventh 20-point outing of the season, and she was joined in double figures by Ivy Brown (15), Raneem Elgedawy (12) and Sidnee Bopp (12). Bopp was strong from beyond the arc on Tuesday, knocking down four of her five chances from three-point range, and helped the Lady Toppers (6-3) to a 9-of-20 (45.0 percent) mark on three-pointers as a team.
Ivy Brown also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to tally her fourth double-double of the season as the Lady Toppers held a 39-27 advantage in rebounding. WKU continued its strong work on the offensive boards thus far this season, securing 16 during the game and turning those into 17 second-chance points.
LaKendra Bassett led Mississippi Valley State (0-7) with 17 points, and Sydney Floyd chipped in 10 more for the Devilettes, who were held to just 17-of-48 shooting (35.4 percent) on the night.
WKU opened the evening by scoring nine of the game’s first 12 points to race out to an early lead over the Devilettes. Tashia Brown notched the first four points for the Lady Toppers, and Bopp punctuated the run with her first three-pointer of the night at the 5:59 mark to give WKU a 9-3 advantage.
Chyna Sawyers’ triple trimmed WKU’s lead back to just three points, but the Lady Toppers fired back with eight unanswered points to take their first double-digit lead of the night. Dee Givens and Bopp keyed the stretch with a pair of three-pointers, and Bopp’s with 3:51 on the clock pushed the WKU lead to 17-6.
Ivy Brown pushed WKU’s lead back to double digits with a three-pointer just 15 seconds into the second quarter, part of a 9-0 run to begin the frame by the Lady Toppers. Twice the Devilettes were able to cut WKU’s advantage to 15 points over the final seven minutes of the quarter, including with 3:29 to play, but WKU responded by tallying 10 of the final 14 points of the half, including a pair of triples from Bopp and Terri Smith, to carry a 41-20 lead into the halftime break.
Trailing by 20 points early in the third quarter, Mississippi Valley State cut back into WKU’s lead with a three-pointer from Floyd and a fast-break layup off the hands of Bassett, leaving the Lady Toppers with a 45-30 advantage midway through the frame.
That would be the closest that the Devilettes would come, however, as WKU used another big 10-0 run to rebuild its 20-point edge. Whitney Creech and Ivy Brown combined to score eight of the points during the stretch for the Lady Toppers, who came away with their largest lead of the night (55-30) to that point following Elgedawy’s jumper with 2:30 on the clock.
In the fourth quarter, WKU did not allow Mississippi Valley State any closer than 26 points and led by as many as 40 before reaching the final 87-48 scoreline.
WKU will return to action at the 2017 West Palm Beach Invitational on Saturday and Sunday. The Lady Toppers are set to take on two strong non-conference foes in Stetson (Saturday at 11 a.m. CT) and Toledo (Sunday at 10 a.m. CT) during the event as they seek to claim their second in-season tournament title of the season after winning the Georgia State Thanksgiving Classic last month.
How to Follow the Lady Toppers: For complete information on WKU Lady Topper Basketball, visit WKUSports.com or follow the program via social media @LadyTopperHoops on Twitter, @LadyTopperHoops on Instagram and on Facebook at facebook.com/WKUWomensBasketball.
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Currie P. McFayden
WKU Associate Director of Athletic Communications
