Short-handed and in a deep hole in the first half, it appeared as if the Western Kentucky women’s basketball team was headed to a fourth straight loss on Wednesday.

The Lady Toppers were determined to overcome the adversity and determined to find a way, using a furious second-half rally to defeat Louisiana Tech 64-56 at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Playing without leading scorers Acacia Hayes and Destiny Salary, WKU (14-10 overall, 5-4 Conference USA) got a huge night from Alexis Mead to rally from a 19-point first-half deficit and snap a three-game losing streak.

“One of the keys to winning from one of our coaches was just having the determination to win,” Mead said. “I feel like that was what that was out there. We wanted to win so bad. No matter the score, we were going to keep fighting until we got up. That’s what we did and when we got the lead we were able to control the game from there. I’m really proud of us.”

Salary missed the game serving a one-game suspension for violation of team rules. Hayes had a brace on her right knee and is out indefinitely with a knee injury that WKU coach Greg Collins said the team believes occurred during a scramble for a loose ball in the second half at Middle Tennessee on Saturday.

“She’s doing therapy. She’s doing rehab,” Collins said. “She’s not going to be ready tomorrow. She’s doing therapy and she’s doing rehab and we are hopeful.”

The loss of the two leading scorers looked like too much to overcome for WKU in the first half. Louisiana Tech (8-15, 2-6) led 15-9 after one and used an 18-5 run in the second quarter to extend the advantage to 33-14 late in the first half.

WKU scored eight straight to trim the deficit to 11 before a 3-pointer from Salma Bates pushed the Louisiana Tech lead back to 36-22 at halftime.

Louisiana Tech shot 50% in the first half, while WKU’s recent shooting woes continued with the Lady Toppers shooting 29% from the field.

WKU quickly heated up to start the second half. Louisiana Tech split a pair of free throws to open the third and make the score 37-22 before the rally began for the Lady Toppers. WKU’s defense picked up the intensity to force eight turnovers in the third, leading to transition baskets that sparked a 13-2 run that made the score 39-35 Louisiana Tech midway through the third.

“I think hitting those shots early in the third quarter really gave us confidence,” WKU sophomore guard Josie Gilvin said. “Yeah we were missing shots in the first half, but it’s a new game in the second half. We really stuck with it, keep shooting our shots and taking better shots. That’s all we needed to do to get back in the game.”

Louisiana Tech briefly regained the momentum by pushing the lead back to 44-35, but WKU delivered another 10-0 surge – taking its first lead since the first quarter when Gilvin’s layup made the score 45-44 with 9:12 left.

A five-point spurt by the Lady Techsters put Louisiana Tech back in front, but WKU answered again with four straight to tie the score 49-all with 6:35 remaining.

Bates gave Louisiana Tech the lead one more time before WKU scored eight straight to take the lead for good. WKU continued to pull away, getting the lead up to as many as 10 points in the final minute.

WKU shot 54% in the second half, forcing 12 turnovers that led to 16 points. The Lady Toppers also outrebounded Louisiana Tech 18-11 in the second half to finish with a 33-32 rebounding advantage for the night.

The win was Collins’ 100th as WKU women’s basketball coach.

“I’m just thankful we didn’t lose, period,” Collins said. “At one time, I turned around (to the bench) and said, ‘You think we can hold on to a 10-point lead with 28.8 seconds left?’ because we’ve found ways to shoot ourselves in the foot over and over and over. The box scores look a lot more like our box scores used to look like. We forced 21 turnovers. We get 18 steals. We get to the free-throw line.

“I just felt like they played really hard … and really talked on defense.”

Mead led the way for WKU with 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals.

“I just wanted to play as hard as my teammates were fighting out there,” Mead said. “I wanted to do whatever I could to help this team win. I felt like we were all doing this for each other.”

Collins praised the effort of his junior point guard.

“You guys have no idea how much Lexi Mead is hurting,” Collins said. “This is the first time she’s played basketball since we left Murfreesboro (on Saturday). She’s a tough kid.”

Teresa Faustino added 11 points, five rebounds and four steals while Karis Allen finished with nine points.

WKU will return at action at 2 p.m. Saturday, hosting Jacksonville State.