There won’t be any easement into the schedule for Western Kentucky. It’ll be baptism by fire.

A Lady Topper basketball team with five freshmen expected to make immediate contributions will be tested early at the highest level with its first four opponents either ranked or receiving votes in the USA Today top 25 preseason coaches’ poll.

WKU will follow up a home exhibition against Union next Thursday with a trip to the 2017 Hawkeye Challenge to play No. 16 Missouri and either Iowa or Quinnipiac, which received votes in the preseason poll.

WKU opens the home schedule in E.A. Diddle Arena against No. 5 Notre Dame, who agreed to play in Bowling Green this year as part of a home-and-home series. WKU then wraps up another home-and-home by traveling to Indiana on Nov. 17.

During WKU’s basketball Media Day news conference at E.A. Diddle Arena on Friday, Lady Toppers coach Michelle Clark-Heard said the freshmen – Sherry Porter, Terri Smith, Nichel Tampa, Raneem Elgedawy and Elizabeth Anderson – won’t have a normal transition into the college game as maybe previous players have experienced.

“They’re in a unique situation because normally you’re afforded a little time when you’re a freshman and you show up on campus,” Heard said. “If this was a year ago it would be different because we had a lot of veterans.

“We talk about that and put them in every possible situation we can in practice. They’ll understand when we go to Iowa for the tournament and step on the floor with a top 16 team in the country what it’s going to be like.”

The defending Conference USA champions played four teams last season that were either in the top 25 at the time or ranked in the preseason poll.

WKU defeated Indiana at home last November when the Hoosiers were ranked 23rd. WKU dropped early season games at Louisville and in the Gulf Coast Showcase to DePaul and in the NCAA Tournament against Ohio State.

The win over Indiana marked the second time WKU had defeated a top 25 team in back-to-back seasons after beating then-No. 8 Louisville in 2015.

In last year’s three losses to DePaul, Louisville and Ohio State, WKU’s average defeat-margin was just over seven points.

The Lady Toppers have proven they can hold their own against the best, but now it’s about capitalizing.

“I think it’s going to be good for us,” senior forward Tashia Brown said. “It’ll prepare us for our conference and everything else. I feel like coach gave us the schedule to basically test who we are and to help us identify the things we need to work on early.”

After Missouri, WKU’s next opponent is either Quinnipiac or host Iowa. Quinnipiac received 27 votes in the preseason poll.

When fifth-ranked Notre Dame visits Diddle Arena on Nov. 4, it’ll be the highest ranked opponent to play at WKU since Louisville entered as the No. 4 team in the country Nov. 27, 2013.

The Fighting Irish, led by Hall of Fame coach Muffet McGraw, has been in five of the last seven Final Fours and finished as the NCAA Tournament runner-up in 2014 and ‘15.

WKU will wrap up that four-game stretch at Indiana, which received four votes. The Lady Toppers’ C-USA rival Middle Tennessee received two votes in the preseason poll.

Those five opponents that either received votes or are ranked in the preseason poll are the most WKU has had in six years under Heard.

“To be the best you’ve got to play the best and beat the best,” senior forward Ivy Brown said. “You want to play as many of those teams as possible just to show everyone else what you’re made of. …

“It’ll definitely be an eye opener for sure. It’s the same game no matter who you play. For (the freshmen) to go out there with confidence and play as hard as they can will be the most important part.”

Lady Toppers picked 2nd in Preseason C-USA Poll

Western Kentucky women’s basketball has been picked second in the annual Preseason Conference USA Coaches’ Poll, the league office announced Friday afternoon. The Lady Toppers picked up eight first-place votes to sit just behind Middle Tennessee at the top of the standings.

WKU’s eight first-place votes were a league high, topping the six received by the Blue Raiders. Now in their fourth year as members of C-USA, the Lady Toppers have never been picked lower than third in the preseason poll and have been chosen in the top two in three of the four campaigns.

Over the last three seasons, the Lady Toppers have posted an 84-19 record (.816); the 84 victories for WKU are the most in a three-season span by any team in C-USA’s history.

The Lady Toppers have also captured a pair of C-USA Tournament championships, including the 2017 crown after a 67-56 win over Southern Miss on March 11, and have advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice, falling to Texas and Ohio State by a combined nine points.

In conference play, WKU posted its first undefeated record (9-0) since the 2007-08 season inside E.A. Diddle Arena last season. Since joining C-USA, the Lady Toppers own a 47-7 mark (.870) against conference opponents during the regular season and have won 15 or more C-USA matchups in each of their three seasons.

2017-18 Preseason C-USA Coaches’ Poll (first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Middle Tennessee (6)

2. WKU (8)

3. Louisiana Tech

4. Charlotte

5. Rice

6. Southern Miss

7. UAB

8. North Texas

9. Marshall

10. Old Dominion

11. UTEP

12. UTSA

13. Florida Atlantic

14. FIU