Western Kentucky’s women’s basketball team forced 16 second-half turnovers against Georgia State and rallied past the Panthers to win the Georgia State Thanksgiving Classic, 74-63, on Sunday at GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta.

WKU’s Tashia Brown was named the tournament most valuable player after her 27-point performance Sunday, 20 of which came in the second half. Ivy Brown joined her on the all-tournament team after registering her second straight double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Dee Givens rounded out the WKU (3-3) trio in double figures with 11 points.

The in-season tournament victory was the fifth in six seasons under Lady Toppers coach Michelle Clark-Heard.

WKU forced a season-best 27 turnovers against the Panthers (1-4) and scored 27 points off those turnovers. The Lady Toppers also won the second-chance battle against Georgia State, outscoring them 20-13 after holding a 17-11 edge on the offensive glass.

Kierra Henry led Georgia State with 15 points and was joined in double figures by Shay Fluker (14) and Madison Newby (12).

WKU jumped out to an early lead on the strength of four points from Ivy Brown. Givens kicked off the game with a 3-pointer just 16 seconds in, and the Lady Toppers maintained their early lead until Henry’s three-point play with 8:15 on the clock knotted the game at 7-7.

Henry’s three-point play sparked an 8-0 run for the Panthers over the next minute. Newby scored the final five points of the run for Georgia State, which emerged with an early 12-7 lead before Givens halted the stretch with a 3-pointer with 7:13 remaining.

Another 6-0 run by Georgia State put the Panthers ahead, 24-18, with just 12 seconds to play in the quarter. Tashia Brown trimmed that deficit to four points with a pair of free throws just before the end of the frame.

Georgia State built a five-point lead on two occasions during the second quarter, but each time WKU was able to battle back. Facing a 32-27 hole with 2:34 on the clock, WKU fired off six straight points to take its first lead since early in the game. Tashia Brown knocked down a mid-range jumper to start the run, and four points from Ivy Brown gave the Lady Toppers a 33-32 lead.

Still leading by one point, 35-34, WKU was held scoreless over the final minute of the quarter as Georgia State scored the final four points of the half to carry a 38-35 lead into the halftime break.

The Panthers took their largest lead of the night, seven points, on three different occasions early in the third quarter, the final time coming after Newby’s layup gave Georgia State a 46-39 edge with 6:08 to play. From that point, however, WKU answered with eight straight points, including four straight from Whitney Creech to cap the stretch and give the Lady Toppers their first lead, 46-45, since early in the contest.

WKU’s lead grew to as many as four points with just over 90 seconds remaining, but a three-point play from Georgia State’s Henry left the Lady Toppers clinging to a 52-51 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

Over the last quarter, WKU never relinquished its lead as the Lady Toppers forced 10 Panther turnovers and created 11 points off those takeaways, allowing WKU to claim the 74-63 victory for its first true road win of the season.

The Lady Toppers will return to action at 7 p.m. Thursday at E.A. Diddle Arena as WKU hosts Evansville. Western Kentucky holds an 8-1 edge in the all-time series against the Purple Aces but have not played since a 75-56 WKU victory on Nov. 16, 2007, in Bowling Green.{&end}