Western Kentucky’s women’s basketball team fell on the road to Liberty, 74-70, to finish off the regular season on Saturday in Lynchburg, Virginia.

WKU (22-8 overall, 13-5 Conference USA) held a lead against Liberty (23-6, 15-2 CUSA) until the third quarter when the Flames went on a 9-0 run to take the lead permanently.

Lady Toppers guard Josie Gilvin scored the first points of the game on a 3-pointer, but Liberty came right back with a jumper on the next possession. WKU went on a 9-2 run to take a 12-4 lead with 6:14 left in the quarter. After a Liberty 3-pointer, Zsofia Telegdy matched a 3 of her own. Gilvin scored the final 11 points of the quarter for WKU, including a personal 9-0 run that included a 24-second sequence where she scored on a layup, stole the ball, scored, stole the ball and scored again. The Lady Toppers took a 26-14 lead going into the second quarter.

Liberty scored the first four points of the second quarter to cut WKU’s lead down to eight, but the Lady Toppers scored four to expand it back to 12. The two teams went back and forth for the rest of the quarter and WKU took a 39-32 lead into halftime.

The Flames connected on a 3-pointer to open the second half, cutting WKU’s lead down to four. The teams traded baskets, but a five-point swing with 7:17 left put Liberty within two. The teams went back-and-forth again, but Liberty took a lead with 5:01 left. WKU went back ahead with a 3 from Gilvin, but Liberty tied the score with 4:04 left. A 3-pointer from Destiny Salary put the Lady Toppers back on top, but the Flames responded with a 9-0 run and outscored WKU 11-2 through the rest of the quarter. Liberty took a 60-53 lead into the final quarter.

WKU kept within reach of Liberty during the fourth quarter and cut the score to two with 20 seconds left, but was unable to secure the comeback.

Gilvin went off for a career high 31 points on 13-of-19 shooting from the floor and 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. It was a Liberty Arena record, topping the previous record set in 2023. She’s the first Lady Topper to score 30 since Acacia Hayes scored 31 against Middle Tennessee on Jan. 7, 2023. She also had seven steals, six rebounds and two assists.

It was only the second time this season that WKU has shot better than their opponent and lost.

The Lady Toppers dished out 17 assists. WKU has notched double-digit assists in all but one game this season have recorded 15-plus assists in 18 games this season.

The Lady Toppers will next play in the CUSA Championship in Huntsville, Alabama. Third-seeded WKU will face No. 6 seed FIU on Wednesday at 2 p.m. CT.