Western Kentucky coach Michelle Clark-Heard (left) talks Jan. 6 to forward Tashia Brown during the Lady Toppers’ 81-60 win over Southern Miss at E.A. Diddle Arena.

As much as Michelle Clark-Heard praises her young team’s growth, youth might have finally caught up with Western Kentucky over the weekend.

Outside of the senior captains Ivy Brown and Tashia Brown, the entire season has been about the sophomores and juniors transitioning into starting roles and freshmen growing up quickly.

The progression has certainly pleased the head coach – three different styles of victory against Conference USA opponents Middle Tennessee, Southern Mississippi and Florida International were wins where several different players were the deciding factors.

But youth catches up at some point against good teams, and the Lady Toppers (12-5 overall, 3-1 C-USA) found that out in Saturday’s 79-61 loss at Alabama-Birmingham.

“We’re trying to grow to not have everything put on Ivy and Tashia’s shoulders all the time,” Heard said on her weekly radio show Monday night. “… Tashia Brown and Ivy are the only two that have been in situations that we’re going in right now. (Sidnee Bopp) played for us some down the stretch in the conference tournament and Kayla (Smith) wasn’t getting a lot of minutes for us. (Whitney Creech) was a freshman for us last year. All these players are experiencing these things. I have to look at our growth and what we’re doing.”

WKU’s 18-point loss at UAB featured a 22-7 fourth-quarter advantage for the Blazers, a rare plot twist considering WKU has often been the team to close out opponents. WKU trailed by three going into the fourth quarter and could never pull within one possession the rest of the way as the Blazers capitalized on 11 of 12 shots from the free throw line. WKU shot 3-for-14 (.217) from the field and 0-for-7 from behind the arc in the final 10 minutes.

Ivy Brown had 25 points and Tashia Brown was held to a season-low 13 points.

The biggest drop-off Saturday was the production of Elgedawy, who, just two days before playing UAB, had 13 points and 23 rebounds against FIU. The 6-foot-4 freshman from Egypt was shut down to four rebounds in 16 scoreless minutes. Heard chalked that up to another stepping stone Elgedawy is taking in adjusting to American basketball since arriving on campus in August.

“Raneem right now is not comfortable shooting that 10 to 12-footer,” Elgedawy said. “We’re constantly working on that and (taking her out of the game) is a decision I made. That affected her a bit because she’s used to playing. The great part for us is she’s growing to understand here in America, they’re going to scout. She’s still learning that. It’s all about confidence.”

Heard said the Blazers’ sagging defense didn’t allow WKU any success driving toward the basket, which forced quick shots by young players. Between Elgedawy, Sherry Porter, Nichel Tampa and Terri Smith, the freshmen were a combined 2-for-13 shooting.

“A lot of our youth showed up early, but we were able to take care of the ball,” Heard said. “They couldn’t stop Ivy, then they started to sag off on us and you become hesitant as a young guard.

“Are they going to pass it or get it in the post? We started taking ill-advised shots at times. When you take quick shots that are normally not taken, they go to the other end in two points or three points.”