Mead leads Lady Toppers to OT win over Jacksonville State

Published 12:04 am Sunday, February 9, 2025

By Micheal Compton

The Western Kentucky women’s basketball team hasn’t had many tense moments in its previous three games at E.A. Diddle Arena, with a trio of wire-to-wire wins that were never in doubt.

Saturday’s clash with Jacksonville State provided enough tense moments to make up for the previous three games, with the Lady Toppers able to eke out a 68-64 overtime win.

Senior guard Alexis Mead had a huge afternoon with a career-high 29 points and nine rebounds, as WKU (17-6 overall, 8-3 Conference USA) was able to overcome foul trouble and a stingy Jacksonville State defense to sweep the season series against the Gamecocks.

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“I told the girls in the huddle that sometimes you have to find a way to gut it out,” WKU coach Greg Collins said. “They showed as much guts as you could ask for. I told them, we didn’t play well but we played well enough when it mattered. For that reason, we’ll take it, celebrate it and then get ready for next week.”

Jacksonville State (9-13, 3-8) jumped out to the early lead before WKU used a 10-0 run to move in front 15-8 late in the first quarter.

The momentum stalled with Josie Gilvin and Destiny Salary both going to the bench with two fouls late in the first quarter. Mead picked up her second foul in the final minute of the half and Jacksonville State took advantage with a 3-pointer from Valentina Saric tying the score 29-29 at halftime.

Jacksonville State scored the opening bucket in the second half and Gilvin quickly picked up her third foul, but WKU was able to regain momentum with an 11-0 run that included back-to-back 3s from Zsofia Telegdy and Acacia Hayes.

The Gamecocks were able to erase the deficit with three 3s in the final minute, going into the final quarter with a 44-43 advantage after a 3 from Saric beat the horn.

Clara Gonzalez Planella’s 3 to open the fourth stretched the Jacksonville State lead to four. WKU answered with a 10-0 run to take a 53-47 lead with 3:18 left in regulation.

Gilvin fouled out 90 seconds later and Jacksonville State was able to chip away, with Maria Sanchez Ponce’s layup with 42.8 seconds remaining giving the Gamecocks a 56-55 advantage.

After both teams turned the ball over, Salary split a pair of free throws to tie the score 56-56 with 5.3 seconds remaining. Jacksonville State had a chance to win it, but Mead was able to get a blocked shot on a drive in the paint — sending the game to overtime.

Jacksonville State opened the extra session with a 3, but Mead answered with a 3 on the other end. Both teams connected on free throws to keep it tied at 61-61 before Salary’s shot in the paint and a jumper from Mead finally gave WKU a small cushion.

Salary’s free throw made the score 66-61 with 25.6 seconds left. Jacksonville State got a 3 to pull within two, but Mead connected on two free throws to seal the win.

“This is going to sound kind of bad, but playing an overtime game in my senior year is fun,” Mead said. “I’m just really glad we pulled it out — came together as a team. I am really happy for us on this one.”

Mead added the career night was nice, but the win was even better.

“At the end of the day, I just really wanted to win,” Mead said. “We really wanted to win. Just like last game, anybody can step up at any time and make those plays at the end of the game. I was just in the position to do that today. So, I’m grateful that we were able to pull it out but even more grateful that we came together the way we did.”

Hayes was the only other Lady Topper to finish in double figures, scoring 12 on the afternoon. Salary had nine points, six rebounds and two steals.

“You can’t allow having a bad offensive game to take you completely out of the game,” Salary said. “You have to find other ways to try and contribute to the team to get the win. My role was doing the little things and doing the dirty work. I had to guard the five at one point. If that’s what I have to do, then that’s what I have to do to get my team the win. I think we were all locked in on going out there and getting that win.”

Collins credited his bench for stepping up and weathering the storm through foul trouble that limited Gilvin to 13 minutes and also saw Salary, Mead and Telegdy miss some time as well.

“I always say the strength of our team is our team,” Collins said. “As we continue to develop and grow that depth, that is how you are able to survive only having Josie Gilvin on the floor 13 minutes. If you had told me you are going to be in an overtime game and Josie Gilvin is going to play 13 minutes, I would have said, ‘All right. We’ve got a chance.’ If I see Josie is only gonna play that amount of time I would have thought we would be in bigger trouble than that. Credit to all the girls that came in there. They are growing in that confidence.”

WKU returns to action at 2 p.m. on Feb. 15, traveling to conference-leading Middle Tennessee State for the start of a three-game road trip.

I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.

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