The WKU men's and women's basketball teams had different results against Arkansas-Little Rock Thursday, with the women winning their fifth conference game and the men dropping a close one on the road.
The WKU men battled back from a 14-point first-half deficit to tie the game at halftime, but UALR made over 50 percent of its shots from the floor in the second half and earned a 75-67 win over the Hilltoppers in Little Rock, Ark. The loss drops WKU to 10-6 overall and 4-1 in conference play, and UALR improves to 9-7 and 3-2.
Brandon Harris recorded his second career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and he has now led WKU in rebounding in four-straight games. Harris also played all 40 minutes in the game and has now played all but five minutes of the last six Hilltopper games. Kevin Kaspar had 13 points thanks in part to three three-pointers, and Teeng Akol had 10 points and five rebounds in 26 minutes.
WKU Women Win, Remain Perfect in Sun Belt
The WKU women used a 10-0 run in the final four minutes of the game to break a 62-62 tie en route to a 78-69 win over UALR at the Jack Stephens Center to stay unbeaten in Sun Belt Conference play.
Sophomore Chastity Gooch had a game-high 23 points to lead four Lady Toppers in double figures and help WKU to its 12th win of the season. WKU (12-2, 5-0) won despite shooting nearly 10 percent less than the Trojans but capitalized on 16 UALR turnovers, holding a 28-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
Gooch was joined in double figures by sophomore Alexis Govan (18 points, including 10-of-10 from the free throw line), freshman Micah Jones (13 points) and junior Bianca McGee (12 points and six rebounds).
After UALR’s Hannah Fohne hit a free throw to tie the game at 62-62, McGee hit a basket, followed by free throws by Gooch and Jones, a basket by Govan and two free throws by Jones to build the 10-point lead late in the game.
The win gave WKU its first five-game conference win streak since the 2009-10 season when WKU won its final four regular season games and the first game of the conference tournament for a five-game win streak. It’s the first 5-0 start to conference play for the Lady Toppers since 2007-08 season when the team started league play with 11 consecutive wins on the way to a 16-2 conference mark and the East Division championship. It is the eighth time in program history that WKU has started conference play 5-0.