Josie Gilvin has always been more of a defense-first player, with a mindset on locking down her opponent.

The Western Kentucky junior guard has added offensive threat to her ever-growing repertoire with a breakout season that has the Lady Toppers in position to challenge for a Conference USA championship and the team’s first NCAA Tournament bid since 2018.

Coming off a career high 31 points in Saturday’s season finale at Liberty, Gilvin has amassed more than half of her career point total at WKU this season – averaging 13 points a night. She is slightly higher in conference play averaging a team-best 14.3 points.

After only six games scoring double digits her first two seasons, Gilvin has 18 double-digit games this season – including seven straight heading into the conference tournament.

“I’m just letting the game come to me,” Gilvin said. “It’s definitely playing slower in my head. I feel like I get a little amped sometimes, so I am definitely slowing down on the offensive end. I’m just doing what (WKU coach Greg Collins) preaches – making simple plays, making fundamental plays. That’s where I get my easy baskets. Not doing anything too crazy.”

Collins said her determination to improve her game has led to this success.

“One thing that hasn’t changed since day one is Josie’s drive to win,” Collins said. “That’s just something she has in her. What she has done the last three years is to continue to work on her skill development. I think a lot of players these days don’t continue to do offseason skill development that allows you to continue to improve.

“This past spring and summer may have been the most intense work that she has done.”

Gilvin said all those hours she put in has really helped her confidence.

“I’ve never been an offensive player,” Gilvin said. “Even in grade school I’ve always relied on my defense to kind of come to my offense. I’m just getting more comfortable, putting a lot of work in on those shots. I’ve worked on building up to the 3-point range and getting outside of that range. If you have the fundamentals inside the paint, it will lead up to it.”

Perhaps her biggest confidence boost came in a win at Abilene Christian on Nov. 21, when Gilvin more than doubled her previous career high in scoring with a 27-point outburst. It’s a total she eclipsed by one point last month against Kennesaw State before setting it again against Liberty, but Gilvin said the success against Abilene Christian really showed her that her work offseason could translate to game action.

“I think that game kind of signified that I got to my shot every time,” Gilvin said. “Those are shots that me and coach Collins worked on a lot last spring, so just knowing to take those simple shots and see them go in made my confidence go up a lot more.”

While Gilvin has become a more prolific scorer, it hasn’t caused any dropoffs in other areas. She leads WKU averaging 5.9 rebounds a game, including a recent stretch where she recorded four straight double-doubles. Gilvin also leads the Lady Toppers in steals (79) and blocked shots (25) and is third on the team in assists (73).

The numbers suggest Gilvin is playing at a high level, with the last month perhaps her best stretch of basketball at WKU.

“I would say so,” Gilvin said. “Scoring is great, but I still want to get those defensive stops. They make me the player I am, so I never want to lose that. It’s great to have the shots.”

While her game continues to excel, Gilvin continues to strive for even a higher level of play. She said leadership and discipline are two things she feels like she still needs to work on.

“I feel like I have gotten myself in trouble in the past by playing too aggressively,” Gilvin said. “Getting myself out in the first and second quarter and having to sit on the bench for foul trouble. I’m definitely being more disciplined on defense, not playing with my hands as much. Knowing when to be aggressive and when to not be overly aggressive. That has definitely helped me stay on the floor and not make as many turnovers and stuff like that.”

Gilvin added that she can get too amped, but is working on that.

“I’m probably a little too talkative sometimes,” Gilvin said. “It gets me in trouble, but I have learned to tone it down. I’m always gonna play how I am. It makes me a better player on the floor. It makes me have more energy and gets everyone else hype, so I’m never really going to take that away from myself.”

With her best season at WKU winding down, Gilvin said the goal for the Conference USA Tournament is pretty simple – help the Lady Toppers win the title. She was part of the team that made it to the finals two years ago and last year’s team that went into the tournament without momentum – ending the season with seven straight losses.

Gilvin said she believes this team is capable of taking that next step and getting the conference title.

“It would mean the world,” Gilvin said. “That is definitely the ultimate goal right now. I’ve definitely had a lot of thought on those last two years, how we’ve come up short. Every game we want to prove that we are better than those last two years and that we can do this together.”