It’s the last call for the Western Kentucky women’s basketball team, as the Lady Toppers will close out the regular season hosting Liberty at 2 p.m. on Saturday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

It’s a chance for one final home game for seniors Teresa Faustino, Odeth Betancourt, Aaliyah Pitts and Destiny Salary and more importantly a chance for WKU to pick up some much needed momentum heading into next week’s Conference USA Tournament.

WKU has dropped five straight to fall to 15-15 overall, 6-9 in Conference USA, so a win Saturday could go a long way toward building some positive momentum. WKU coach Greg Collins said his team has been trying to get going in the right direction for weeks.

“They’ve won five in a row and we are in a spot where we’ve lost five in a row,” Collins said. “We’ve had leads in the majority of those (games) except for one, and they have all been a possession or two in the final decision. The bottom line is we’ve shot ourselves too many times.”

The latest loss came last week against Florida International, leading almost the entire way – by as many as 16 in the second half – before FIU was able to steal the win in the final 10 seconds.

Collins said he made sure to encourage his team to continue to fight after that tough loss.

“I am as frustrated and aggravated as anyone else, but I know they are young women,” Collins said. “When I got home that night I sent a text to every one of them and ‘Keep believing. You are going to do great things.’ – trying to encourage them to stay positive because that is something they have done a super job of throughout this stretch. They’ve come to practice with great energy, great focus. They have been competitive and they’ve done well in practice. They’ve done everything you want great teams to do. Because of that, they deserve a chance to win. We’ve had those chances. We just haven’t gotten it done.”

Saturday’s game will have huge implications on seeding for WKU. With a win the Lady Toppers appeared locked into the four or five seed, but a loss could see WKU drop to sixth or – worst case – seventh in the conference tournament.

“All of the games have been big for us,” Collins said. “Yes, this is a big game for us from a seeding point but honestly it’s not even about seeding right now. It’s just about playing good basketball and trying to maintain composure, maintain poise, make fundamental plays and finish. I think when we do those things we are not that bad, but when we don’t then we are bad. It is about seeding, but really it’s about trying to play our best.”

All four seniors will be recognized Saturday. Collins said it is a chance to show appreciation for the four players’ contributions at WKU.

“They’ve all been real positive,” Collins said. “They’ve all worked real hard. We just haven’t had the success that we expect that we feel like we have put the work in to experience. Sometimes things have just gone the opposite way that we have wanted them to.”

While sophomore guard Acacia Hayes appears to be trending in the right direction recovering from a knee injury suffered early last month, Collins said her status is still up the air even though she is moving better and feeling better.

“She’s moving and she’s running a little bit on the treadmill, but she’s not played any basketball,” Collins said. “We are thankful right now that there is no surgery. We are thankful that she is doing well and recovering well, but she is still not quite game ready.”