By the Daily News

Western Kentucky’s women’s basketball team went on the road to earn a 78-54 win against Mercer on Tuesday in Macon, Georgia.

WKU is off to a 3-0 start, which marks the 14th time in program history a Lady Topper team has won its first three games of a season. It is also the second consecutive season with a 3-0 start, the first time WKU has had been 3-0 in back-to-back seasons since 1987-88 and 1988-89.

The Lady Toppers (3-0) jumped out to an early lead against Mercer (1-2) behind a 14-0 run in the first quarter and never looked back; they led by double digits the rest of the game.

WKU’s Zsofia Telegdy scored the first points of the game. After Mercer’s first basket, WKU took a big lead behind a 14-0 run during which five different Lady Toppers scored. The Bears scored back-to-back baskets to stop the run, but WKU still outscored Mercer 9-6 through the rest of the quarter to take a 25-12 lead into the second period.

The Lady Toppers outscored Mercer 14-5 to open the second quarter, but Mercer responded with a 9-2 run. Telegdy scored the final four points of the half to give WKU a 45-26 lead at halftime.

The third quarter was even for the two teams, with both squads scoring 13 points. Six of those points for WKU came from Acacia Hayes and four came from Alexis Mead. The Lady Toppers opened the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 29-point lead.

After going back-and-forth, WKU got back to a 29-point lead at the 2:01 mark on a jumper from Mackenzie Chatfield. From there, Mercer outscored WKU 7-2 to finish the game.

Hayes was the game’s leading scorer with 21 points, her first 20-point performance of the season and the eighth of her career. The junior had a career high eight rebounds and a career best three blocks. Hayes has now reset at least one career high in every game this season.

Two other Lady Toppers joined Hayes in double figures. Alexis Mead went off for a season 18 points adding five rebounds. Destiny Salary chipped in 15 points, her second straight game in double figures.

Mackenzie Chatfield led the team in assists with five on the night, a new career high for the sophomore.

WKU has held all three opponents in 2024-25 below 60 points. The Lady Toppers are 42-9 under Greg Collins when keeping teams below 60 all-time.

WKU improved to 4-1 all-time against Mercer and 2-0 in Macon.

The Bears are coached by former WKU women’s basketball player and coach Michelle Clark-Heard – she amassed a 154-47 record across six seasons (2012-18) leading the Lady Toppers, with Collins as her top assistant coach all six seasons before he replaced her following her move to take the top job at Cincinnati.

The Lady Toppers will hit the road next for a Nov. 21 game, taking on Abilene Christian in Abilene, Texas. Game time is 6 p.m.