Any time Western Kentucky can play in any type of tournament setting or showcase, it wants to compete for a title.

The Lady Toppers will have a third opportunity to do that this fall before Conference USA play begins. The schedule amps back up this weekend when WKU (6-3) plays Stetson on Saturday and Toledo on Sunday in the West Palm Beach Invitational in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The Florida trip will be the third in-season tournament this year, the most any Lady Topper team has played under Michelle Clark-Heard and the most since playing three in the 1997-98 season. WKU opened the season in the Hawkeye Challenge at Iowa and then won the Georgia State Thanksgiving Classic in November.

“We’re always talking about championships with Coach Heard,” junior Sidnee Bopp said. “The more tournaments we go to, the more championships we can get. We just go out there and try our best.”

WKU is one of 10 teams participating in the inaugural women’s basketball tournament at Keiser University. Along with WKU, Stetson and Toledo, other schools participating are Furman, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, Xavier and Southern. WKU will play Stetson (6-5) for the first time since 1985 – a 104-70 WKU victory – at 11 a.m. CST on Saturday and will play Toledo (7-2) at 11 a.m. CST on Sunday.

Following the Florida trip, WKU will travel to Muncie, Ind., to play Ball State, which is 9-0 with only Austin Peay on the schedule before hosting the Lady Toppers.

WKU enters having won five straight, but the combined record of the last four opponents is 11-22 and WKU has won each game by an average of 23.8 points.

Stetson enters Saturday having last played Dec. 7 in an 84-39 loss at No. 10 Florida State. The Hatters average 65.5 points per game and are led by Brittney Chambers’ 18.1 points per game.

Toledo’s only losses are to Louisville and Duquesne. Two players average double figures for the Rockets: Kaayla McIntyre (13.9 ppg) and Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott (11.4).

“Stetson is really good and Toledo is good, too,” Heard said. “There’s going to be great competition and that’s what it’s all about. These next three games are big. You’ve got Stetson and Toledo, then we go to Ball State. … It’s a big test for us, but I’m excited about it and the seniors are ready to lead.”

The Lady Toppers spent the last several games cleaning up its own flaws. They held Mississippi Valley State to 10 points or fewer in three quarters Tuesday and outscored the Devillettes 20-9 in the fourth quarter in an 87-48 victory.

WKU had 19 assists against just nine turnovers and Tashia Brown had her fifth-straight 20-point game. Brown leads C-USA in scoring at 22.1 points per game, good for 11th nationally.

“For me, I feel like we take each game the same,” Brown said. “We always want to win a championship if we can. Even with these tournaments, we always want to win.”

Where Heard wants to see improvement is in offensive production from the freshmen. Raneem Elgedawy has been a welcome surprise for fans with two C-USA Freshman of the Week honors and averages 8.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, but combined offensive production in the last game between Sherry Porter, Nichel Tampa and Terri Smith could’ve been better.

The three freshmen guards combined to shoot 2-for-12 from the floor against MVSU.

“They’ve got to get better at shooting the ball,” Heard said. “They have to. That’s something that we’ve talked about and again, that’s freshmen. Sherry does a lot for us and does a lot of great things, but we also understand that sometimes you have those ups and you have those downs. What we’re doing is continuing to tell them to get in the gym and work on those things and we’re working on those things with them.

“All they have to do is have a game or have a practice where they have repetition and it starts to fall. We’re just going to keep working with them.”

Probable starters

Western Kentucky – Tashia Brown, f, 6-1, sr. (22.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg); Whitney Creech, g, 5-8, so. (10.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg); Ivy Brown, f, 6-1, sr. (15.0 ppg, 9.2 rpg); Sherry Porter, g, 5-7, fr. (4.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg); Raneem Elgedawy, f, 6-4, fr. (8.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg)

Stetson – McKenna Beach, g, 5-6, jr. (12.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg); Sydney Wagner, g, 5-6, fr. (8.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg); Megan Vincent, c, 6-4, fr. (3.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg); Kennedi Colclough, f, 6-0, so. (13.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg); Brittney Chambers, g, 5-6, sr. (18.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg)

Television: Online Stream by Keiser Athletics

Radio: ESPN 102.7 FM or 1450 AM

Coaches: Michelle Clark-Heard (136-42 sixth year; 160-74 overall), Western Kentucky; Lynn Bria (183-119 10th year; 336-332 overall) Stetson.

Series Record: WKU leads the series 1-0 (WKU won the last meeting 104-70 on Feb. 14, 1985.)

Last time out: Western Kentucky won 87-48 against Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday; Stetson lost at No. 10 Florida State 84-39 on Dec. 7.{&end}