BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Western Kentucky is used to working around the occasional foul trouble from one of its post players. But two of them in foul trouble in the first half in the same game? Not so much.

Luckily, coach Michelle Clark-Heard knows depth at the forward spot is shallow. WKU’s 71-58 win over North Texas in the Conference USA quarterfinals at Bartow Arena was an example of its versatility to adjust to any circumstance.

Forwards Ivy Brown and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers each had three fouls in the first half, then quickly drew their fourth foul in the second half. That forced WKU to find contributions from other positions while Brown and Rogers rode the bench.

When Brown drew her third foul with 7:36 left in the first half, WKU used starters Kendall Noble, Micah Jones and Tashia Brown and bench players Sidnee Bopp and Ima Akpan to spark a 19-8 run to break a 20-20 tie.

“It’s really fun to watch,” Heard said. “As a coach, you don’t want to see your two post players go out with four fouls.

“The greatest thing is understanding this team loves each other so much, they just pick up from where the pieces are. Different people stepped up, so their confidence and being in different situations has really helped us.

“Like today, the guards on the floor, they didn’t flinch when the posts went out. I probably was the one that was most worried. An advantage I feel that we always have is we have a little size in the guard spot, so sometimes we’re able to do some things and switch up and that’s what we came back and did.”

Rogers and Brown each drew their fourth foul in the first three minutes of the second half. Before that, Brown scored seven points out of the locker room before sitting the rest of the game. She finished with eight points and four rebounds in just 17 minutes, well below her 30-minute average.

Goodin-Rogers had three fouls in the first quarter and played just nine minutes, but had four points and three rebounds.

The senior Akpan, a 5-foot-10 guard/forward combo, had missed the last three games with a knee injury and came back to grab four rebounds with two points in nine minutes off the bench.

Tashia Brown also used her 6-1 frame to snag six rebounds, with a block and a steal. The bench overall accounted for 10 of WKU’s rebounds.

Outside of Ivy Brown and Rogers, freshman Sarah Price (6-2) is the only forward above 6-1. Price hasn’t dressed out since Dec. 18 with a knee injury, but she was in uniform Thursday to play in an emergency situation.

But Heard said WKU has practiced for that very situation. Thursday showed any player can fill any void.

“Sometimes we practice that way to make sure,” Heard said. “We know we’re not that deep in the post spot, so that’s what makes our team hard to guard at times is because we can play defense and switch up on everyone or we can change what we need to do. We just insert certain players that can help in certain situations.”

Bopp brings spark again

Sophomore Sidnee Bopp was hyped by Heard and teammates in the preseason about her rapid development in WKU’s system. Bopp had shown glimpses in the regular season, but that consistency hasn’t showed up until the last four weeks.

Bopp was the spark WKU needed to help advance to Friday’s semifinals against Louisiana Tech. Bopp logged 24 minutes off the bench and finished with 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the floor and two 3-pointers. She also grabbed three rebounds, two offensive, and a pair of steals.

The 5-6 Marmaduke, Ark., native had back-to-back double-digit games for the first time in her career. She had a career-high 17 points last Saturday in the regular-season finale at Rice on 5-of-8 shooting from behind the arc.

Bopp has hit nine 3-pointers in the last three games combined.

“Her impact on our team has been incredible for the past three or four weeks,” Heard said. “She’s playing with a lot of confidence. Her teammates are very confident in her and what she can do. She just brings a big spark to us. The greatest thing is she can handle the ball, she can shoot it and she plays defense. That’s something that has really added to us coming off the bench. I’m just really proud of her and how she’s stepped up with the team.”

NOTES

Heard is now 128-38 in five years as WKU’s head coach. … WKU improved to 4-1 all-time in the C-USA Tournament and 63-23 all time in conference tournaments. … WKU has now won 25 or more games in three consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. … WKU has 82 victories since the beginning of the 2014-15 season. … WKU leads the all-time series against North Texas 17-6. … WKU now has a winning streak of 10 or more games in each of the last four seasons. … WKU tied a C-USA record for fewest turnovers (5) in a tournament game. … Redshirt senior Kendall Noble produced back-to-back double-doubles for the first time this season. … Freshman Naomi Mayes scored her first career points for WKU with a free throw late in the fourth quarter.{&end}