Western Kentucky Lady Toppers Head Basketball Coach Greg Collins gathers the team in a huddle during a timeout in the Lady Toppers’ 68-64 win in overtime against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS

The Western Kentucky women’s basketball team depth was a key reason why the Lady Toppers were able to finish 23-9 last season.

When the season ended, WKU appeared to have a strong core returning despite losing three players – including starters Alexis Mead and Destiny Salary. That depth took a hit when two more starters – Josie Gilvin and Acacia Hayes – and one of the key reserves – Mackenzie Chatfield – left through the transfer portal.

Despite the losses, WKU coach Greg Collins remains confident that his depth will still be a strength after a busy offseason where the Lady Toppers added six players – including a former Kentucky Miss Basketball and someone with ties to the program.

The first addition was sophomore point guard Trinity Rowe, who transferred after one year at Southern Miss. The 2024 Miss Basketball from Pikeville shined in her one year at Southern Miss and was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the year last season.

Rowe looks to slide into the point guard role vacated by Mead’s departure.

“Trinity was priority A, priority A1,” Collins said. “Obviously with Alexis graduating we needed someone that had some experience and had that mindset about how to be a point guard and run a team and take that leadership role. Trinity has done that. I don’t have any reason to believe that she won’t step in and have that same type of mentality she had both in high school and at Southern Miss. She will do a great job in that way.”

Collins said Rowe is an exciting player who is a great shooter and competitor. He added the big thing will be adding depth behind her.

“We are excited about her, not just on the basketball court but her character and leadership on the court and off the court is something that we needed,” Collins said.

One of her new backcourt mates will be freshman Enni Ahervuo, a 5-10 guard from Finland who is the daughter of former Lady Topper Jana Heikkila – making them the first mother-daughter duo in the program’s history.

“Number one, your mom has to be good,” Collins said. “But then your daughter has to be equally good. We are excited about Enni. When I watched Enni’s film, there were things that reminded me of players that we had in the past – that were 5-11, 6-foot and aggressive defensively. Highly competitive and never stopped playing hard. There are a lot of good things.”

Collins said Ahervuo has had a very good coach on her club team, Reetta Piipari, who was part of the Xavier team that beat Tennessee in the 2001 NCAA Tournament.

“She has had really good instruction, in addition to her mom, growing up,” Collins said. “She’s got to learn. It’s going to be an adjustment like every freshman. Ivy Brown was Miss Basketball and she had an adjustment when she was a freshman. That all do and Enni will as well, but I think she has a great support system, a great background of development and she has a great attitude about working.”

In the frontcourt WKU added 6-3 forward Elif Naz Dal from Turkey who Collins said is a very skilled, highly mobile, high IQ player.

“She’s another player that is very conscientious about her work ethic, her work habits and very thorough in her academics,” Collins said. “I think that when Elif and Enni get here they are going to add to that depth. It’s going to take a minute for them to learn and grow, but they will. They are players we want to develop into Raneem Elgedewy type players. We want them to develop into Josie Gilvin type players or Dee Givins type players. I think they will do that.”

Jeniffer Silva is a 6-4 senior transfer from South Florida who is currently playing with the Brazilian National team, but is also expected to bring depth in the paint.

“We are looking for her to add some size around that rim and give us a little more defensive presence that we didn’t always have last season,” Collins said.

Guard Tobi Ademuwagun, who previously played at Tulsa and Penn, was a late addition coming off an injury. Collins said she is a strong, physical guard, something that the Lady Toppers haven’t had for a few seasons.

“I don’t know if she will be ready to go from the beginning, but we will look for her as the season goes on,” Collins said. “I think her conditioning and rehab will get her back and she will be impactful. You are a pretty smart kid if you get to Penn. I think she adds that same characteristic of understanding what we are doing, understanding her role and understanding how to be a star in that role.”

Rounding out the newcomers is walk-on freshman guard Lola Bond from Wales, Wisconsin, who was also an all-state soccer player.

“We needed some depth in that position,” Collins said. “I go through a lot of videos and talk to a lot of coaches. We didn’t get some of the players that we were pursuing for different reasons and we needed some depth there. We reached out to Lola and she was highly interested.

“A great work ethic again. A high IQ kid that is going to continue to work and develop.”

Collins said he likes the way the roster has taken shape and is excited about the potential for the upcoming season.

“I like the way our roster is moving,” Collins said. “We’ve still got work to do. There’s a player of two that would make a big impact, but I think we’ve got players that are all pulling the rope in the same direction. I think that is the key.”