2017–18 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball team

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2017–18 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball
C-USA Tournament Champions
NCAA Women's Tournament, first round
ConferenceConference USA
Record24–9 (12–4 C-USA)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Greg Collins
  • Melissa Kolbe
  • Brittany Parker
Home arenaE. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons
2017–18 Conference USA women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
UAB 13 3   .813 27 7   .794
Western Kentucky 12 4   .750 24 9   .727
Rice 10 6   .625 23 10   .697
Louisiana Tech 10 6   .625 19 12   .613
Middle Tennessee 10 6   .625 18 13   .581
Charlotte 10 6   .625 14 16   .467
UTEP 7 9   .438 17 14   .548
Florida Atlantic 7 9   .438 13 15   .464
Southern Miss 7 9   .438 15 15   .500
North Texas 6 10   .375 17 14   .548
UTSA 6 10   .375 9 21   .300
Old Dominion 6 10   .375 8 23   .258
FIU 5 11   .313 8 21   .276
Marshall 3 13   .188 9 20   .310
2018 C-USA Tournament winner
As of 20 March 2018
Rankings from AP poll

The 2017–18 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball team represents Western Kentucky University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Toppers are led by fifth year head coach Michelle Clark-Heard. They play their home games at E. A. Diddle Arena and were members of Conference USA.[1][2][3] They finished the season 24–9, 12–4 in C-USA play to finish in second place. They won the Conference USA Tournament for the 2nd year in a row and earns an automatic bid to the NCAA women's basketball tournament where they were defeated by Oregon State in the first round.

On March 27, Michelle Clark-Heard has resigned from Western Kentucky to accept the head coaching job at Cincinnati. She finished with a five-year record of 154–48.

Previous season[edit]

They finished the season 27–8, 16–2 in C-USA play to win the Conference USA regular season and also won the Conference USA Tournament. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA women's basketball tournament where they were defeated by Ohio State in the first round.

Roster[edit]

2017–18 WKU Lady Toppers women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
F 1 Arame Niang 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So   Rufisque, Senegal
G 3 Sidnee Bopp 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Jr Marmaduke HS Marmaduke, AR
F 4 Dee Givens 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS So Lafayette HS Lexington, KY
G 5 Whitney Creech 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) So Jenkins HS Jenkins, KY
F 10 Tashia Brown 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Lowndes HS Lake Park, GA
G 11 Alexis Brewer Current redshirt 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Jr Bardstown HS
West Virginia
Buffalo, KY
G 12 Nichel Tampa 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) Fr St. Francis Alpharetta, GA
F 15 Raneem Elgedawy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Fr   Alexandria, Egypt
G 20 Terri Smith 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Fr Sparkman Harvest, AL
G 22 Sherry Porter 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Fr Madison Prep Academy Baton Rouge, LA
F 23 Ivy Brown 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr LaRue County HS Hodgenville. KY
F 30 Elizabeth Anderson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Mercy Academy Louisville, KY
G/F 32 Kayla Smith 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Jr Fayette County HS Fayetteville, GA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: December 28, 2017

Schedule[edit]

[4]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 2*
7:00 p.m.
Union W 101–58  1–0
E. A. Diddle Arena (1,468)
Bowling Green, KY
Non-conference regular season
November 10*
2:30 p.m.
vs. No. 16 Missouri
2017 Hawkeye Challenge
W 79–76  1–0
Carver–Hawkeye Arena (1,015)
Iowa City, IA
November 11*
4:30 p.m.
at Iowa
2017 Hawkeye Challenge
L 97–104 OT 1–1
Carver–Hawkeye Arena (3,649)
Iowa City, IA
November 14*
7:00 p.m., FCS/WKYU
No. 6 Notre Dame L 65–78  1–2
E. A. Diddle Arena (5,061)
Bowling Green, KY
November 17*
6:00 p.m.
at Indiana L 71–73  1–3
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (3,063)
Bloomington, IN
November 24*
5:00 p.m.
vs. Mercer
GSU Thanksgiving Classic
W 67–62  2–3
GSU Sports Arena (401)
Atlanta, GA
November 26*
1:00 p.m., ESPN3
at Georgia State
GSU Thanksgiving Classic
W 74–63  3–3
GSU Sports Arena (412)
Atlanta, GA
November 30*
7:00 p.m.
Evansville W 92–54  4–3
E. A. Diddle Arena (1,078)
Bowling Green, KY
December 10*
2:00 p.m.
at Southern Illinois W 75–49  5–3
SIU Arena (700)
Carbondale, IL
December 12*
5:30 p.m.
Mississippi Valley State W 87–48  6–3
E. A. Diddle Arena (1,063)
Bowling Green, KY
December 16*
11:00 a.m.
vs. Stetson
West Palm Invitational
W 66–58  7–3
Student Life Center (125)
West Palm Beach, FL
December 17*
10:00 a.m.
vs. Toledo
West Palm Invitational
W 70–56  8–3
Student Life Center (250)
West Palm Beach, FL
December 21*
6:00 p.m., ESPN3
at Ball State L 81–93  8–4
Worthen Arena (1,435)
Muncie, IN
December 29*
5:30 p.m.
Lee W 88–64  9–4
E. A. Diddle Arena (1,634)
Bowling Green, KY
Conference USA regular season
January 4
7:00 p.m., FCS/WKYU
Middle Tennessee W 57–43  10–4
(1–0)
E. A. Diddle Arena (1,811)
Bowling Green, KY
January 6
2:00 p.m., FCS/WKYU
Southern Miss W 81–60  11–4
(2–0)
E. A. Diddle Arena (1,897)
Bowling Green, KY
January 11
7:00 p.m.
FIU W 101–47  12–4
(3-0)
E. A. Diddle Arena (1,126)
Bowling Green, KY
January 13
6:30 p.m., beIN
at UAB L 61–79  12–5
(3–1)
Bartow Arena (527)
Birmingham, AL
January 18
11:00 a.m., FCS/WKYU
UTSA W 73–38  13–5
(4-1)
E. A. Diddle Arena (3,887)
Bowling Green, KY
January 21
12:00 p.m.
at Marshall W 86–66  14–5
(5–1)
Cam Henderson Center (573)
Huntington, WV
January 26
7:00 p.m.
at North Texas W 79–65  15–5
(6–1)
UNT Coliseum (1,134)
Denton, TX
January 28
2:00 p.m.
at Louisiana Tech W 74–64  16–5
(7–1)
Thomas Assembly Center (2,134)
Ruston, LA
February 3
2:00 p.m.
Florida Atlantic W 82–63  17–5
(8–1)
E. A. Diddle Arena (2,145)
Bowling Green, KY
February 8
5:30 p.m., FCS/WKYU
Old Dominion W 62–48  18–5
(9–1)
E. A. Diddle Arena (3,568)
Bowling Green, KY
February 10
2:00 p.m.
at Rice L 58–73  18–6
(9–2)
Tudor Fieldhouse (945)
Houston, TX
February 15
6:30 p.m., ESPN3
at Middle Tennessee W 76–60  19–6
(10–2)
Murphy Center (4,061)
Murfreesboro, TN
February 17
2:00 p.m.
Marshall W 77–50  20–6
(11–2)
E. A. Diddle Arena (2,205)
Bowling Green, KY
February 23
7:00 p.m.
Charlotte W 83–61  21–6
(12–2)
E. A. Diddle Arena (2,459)
Bowling Green, KY
March 1
6:00 p.m.
at Southern Miss L 63–69  21–7
(12–3)
Reed Green Coliseum (1,175)
Hattiesburg, MS
March 3
2:00 p.m.
at UTEP L 75–80  21–8
(12–4)
Don Haskins Center (528)
El Paso, TX
Conference USA Women's Tournament
March 8
1:30 p.m., Stadium
(2) vs. (10) UTSA
Quarterfinals
W 78–50  22–8
The Ford Center at The Star 
Frisco, TX
March 9
8:00 p.m., Stadium
(2) vs. (11) North Texas
Semifinals
W 77–61  23–8
The Ford Center at The Star 
Frisco, TX
March 10
4:30 p.m., CBSSN
(2) vs. (1) UAB
Championship Game
W 72–57  24–8
The Ford Center at The Star 
Frisco, TX
NCAA Women's Tournament
March 16*
11:00 a.m., ESPN2
(11 L) vs. (6 L) No. 13 Oregon State
First Round
L 58–82  24–9
Thompson–Boling Arena 
Knoxville, TN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
L=Lexington Region.
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings[edit]

2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Regular Season Polls
Poll Pre-
Season
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Week
9
Week
10
Week
11
Week
12
Week
13
Week
14
Week
15
Week
16
Week
17
Week
18
Week
19
Final
AP RV RV RV N/A
Coaches N/A
Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
(RV)   Received Votes
(NR)   Not Ranked

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Western Kentucky University Athletics" (PDF). Wkusports.com. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  2. ^ "Western Kentucky Lady Toppers Women's Basketball - Lady Toppers News, Scores, Stats, Rumors & More". ESPN. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  3. ^ Western Kentucky Lady Toppers. "Western Kentucky Lady Toppers on Yahoo! Sports - News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  4. ^ "Western Kentucky University Athletics". Wkusports.com. Retrieved December 28, 2017.