Joe Imel/Daily News

From humbling beginnings in 1914 to the resurgence and rise as a super power in the 1980s and 1990s, the Western Kentucky womens basketball team has built a rich tradition. That tradition hits a landmark Thursday when the Lady Toppers face Middle Tennessee in the regular-season home finale, also the 1,000th game for the team. Current head coach and former player Mary Taylor Cowles has seen plenty of those games, yet even she has a hard time putting into words the meaning of Lady Topper basketball. There is a feeling about Lady Topper basketball that is indescribable, Cowles said. We are not one of those schools thats big time Division I football and we dont have the millions of dollars that some of these athletic departments have. There is something about Western Kentucky and Lady Topper basketball that I think is so special and so unique. During the first 999 games, Western has been the David and the Goliath, experienced the highest of highs with three final fours and been to the depths of darkness with the 2001-02 season under coach Shawn Campbell. Still, the program has survived and continued to succeed something former head coach Paul Sanderford credits to the Lady Topper fans.”Lady Topper fans are very loyal fans, Sanderford said. You could play Hobard Tech or Louisiana Tech and the same core group is going to be there. While Western had mild success before Sanderfords arrival, it wasnt until 1982 that the school began to succeed on a national level. Sanderford said there were two things that led to that success. First was the move from the Ohio Valley Conference to the Sun Belt Conference. The reason I took the job was the fact that Old Dominion joined the Sun Belt Conference, Sanderford said. Old Dominion was a power in womens basketball and one of the top two or three womens programs in the country. It gave us an opportunity to recruit nationally and gave us an opportunity to get some national exposure that Western hadnt had in the OVC.But the exposure meant nothing without the players, and Sanderford was to reap the benefits of being in an area that was a hot bed for womens basketball. We were fortunate to have a lot of good players in the area, he said. Clemette Haskins and Melinda Carlson were over at Warren Central. Lillie Mason was here from Russellville and Laura Ogles was from Scottsville. That core group helped lead the Lady Toppers to their first two Final Four appearances and establish the program as the place to play womens basketball. Sanderford said there where two landmark moments during those early years. One was when Western defeated No. 1-ranked Texas 94-92 in the Mideast regional semifinals March 22, 1985. The other moment came 11 months later, when Western set what was then a womens basketball attendance record, drawing 12,951 fans for a game against Old Dominion. I remember walking out of the tunnel that day, Sanderford said. I punched my assistants and said, Welcome to the big time. But Westerns success wasnt just getting noticed by fans and opponents more importantly, the success was getting the attention of high school players looking for a place to play collegiate ball. Former Lady Topper Susie Starks Percell, a Scottsville native who played for Western from 1986-89, was one of those players. Being a Lady Topper was a dream come true, Percell said. I never thought about going to any other college. I thought, Why go somewhere else when you can stay at home and play. I never gave it a second thought. And with each season of success that followed, the sense of carrying on that tradition became another part of Lady Topper basketball. Laurie Townsend Idlett, who played for Western from 1994-98, said from the moment she played her first game, she realized the tradition before her. There is a feeling of pride when you walk in, she said. Its indescribable. Growing up, we all came to team camp (at WKU). It was such a family atmosphere. They were just so exciting. From the moment I got here, I felt like I was part of something really special. I wouldnt trade my four years for anything in the world. While Western experienced three final fours and one national championship game in a seven-year span, the challenge to return to that national spotlight has been difficult. Last season was the Lady Toppers first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2000 and the Lady Toppers have not been ranked in the Top 25 since the late 90s.Its tougher today then when I started, Sanderford said. You are competing with a lot of things as a mid-major that I was not competing against in 1983 when I started. Still, Cowles said she is ready for the challenge. When I played at Western we were big time, Cowles said. We were one of the elite schools and that was unbelievable. Western was in the Top 20 every year. Now, we havent been in the Top 20, but I truly believe the commitment is there. I definitely believe that our best days are still ahead, but I have also grown to understand that it takes time. Its not going to happen overnight, but with a lot of hard work, a lot of commitment and a lot of passion it will happen.