The Western Kentucky women’s basketball team remained perfect on the season, overcoming a short bench to comfortably oust Miami (Ohio) 79-60 on Sunday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Beginning the day with nine players available – with only eight by the final buzzer – WKU (7-0) leaned heavily on its starting five to build a commanding lead after three before coasting in the fourth quarter.

The 7-0 start ties the 1987-88 team for the second-best start in program history. The 1994-95 team holds the school record with a 15-0 start.

WKU coach Greg Collins said he is proud of the way this team continues to fight through even as the numbers on the roster have dwindled in the last week.

“We were looking forward to this game, but it was almost like a tournament game – just survive and advance,” Collins said. “That was kind of our mentality because we were playing differently than we practiced. I was proud of the ones that got in.

“I’m extremely proud of that first group that was in there. They battled the whole time.”

Junior guard Acacia Hayes was the latest added to the injury list, sitting out Sunday as a precaution after suffering a concussion during Wednesday’s win over Tennessee State.

Even without one of its top scorers, WKU didn’t miss a beat in the first quarter. The starting five played the entire quarter, forcing 16 turnovers and using a 19-2 run to build a 23-8 advantage after one.

Zsofia Telegdy opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 18 points, but Miami (Ohio) (4-2) was able to start chipping away. The lead dwindled all the way down to 36-29 in the final minute of the half before Josie Gilvin’s steal and layup gave WKU a 38-29 halftime advantage.

Alexis Mead opened the second half with a 3 that pushed the margin above double digits. It was the start of a 36-point outburst in the third that allowed WKU to push its lead out to 74-44.

“In the second quarter, we’ve done this before, we make plays defensively then we hurt ourselves with hurried-up plays on offense that led to turnovers,” Collins said. “We talked about that at halftime. I felt like they came out in the third quarter and just really demonstrated that we can be better than we were in the last quarter. That really closed the game.”

WKU was held to five points in the final period with Collins trying to rest most of his starters. Two reserves were unable to finish the game, with Salma Khedr fouling out and Mya Pratcher leaving late in the third quarter after taking a blow to the head.

“Honestly, in the fourth quarter I didn’t want anybody else to get hurt,” Collins said. “I know the fourth quarter was bad. I apologize to the fans. At some point you are just trying to make sure you get out of there with anything else that is going to hinder you down the road.”

Collins said Pratcher had a goose egg after the hard contact and was held out despite wanting to play. Senior forward Marianna Sow, who missed a third straight game due to a personal matter, was on the bench after being absent the previous two games. Collins added he is hopeful to have Hayes cleared to return this week.

“Fortunately we are heading into finals week,” Collins said. “We’ve got a couple of days to really focus on finals and to finish stronger, but also to get everybody rested and recovered. Then we will get back after it on Wednesday.”

Mead led the Lady Toppers with 24 points, five steals and four rebounds, part of a balanced attack with four starters finishing in double-figure scoring.

“It’s just a testament to the trust we have in each other,” Mead said. “We had a couple people down today and we had more people step up. It was a good win for us.”

Gilvin had 21 points, eight steals and six rebounds. Telegedy and Destiny Salary added 14 points each, with Salary dishing out five assists.

WKU had 17 assists on 25 field goals in Sunday’s win.

“We just keep finding our open people,” Gllvin said. “We know most of our starters are three-way scorers, so we just try to get it to the open person because we know it’s probably going to go in. Finding the right people helps us.”

WKU returns to action at Wichita State on Dec. 8.