Primed for repeat run

Lady Tops down NMSU for shot in Sun Belt title game

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

After 30 dress rehearsals, the Western Kentucky womens basketball team has one chance to dance. The Lady Toppers used a dominant second-half performance to cruise past New Mexico State, 71-56, and advance to todays Sun Belt Conference Championship game against Middle Tennessee. A win today would give Western (18-12) its second straight tourney championship and an automatic bid to next weeks NCAA tournament. Once again were right where we want to be, Mary Taylor Cowles said. Weve found a way to place ourselves in the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Ive been a little worried because both days Ive walked into the locker room and theres just this calmness with no reaction. They keep telling me Coach Cowles, were not there yet. Tiffany Porter-Talbert wants so badly to be in the NCAA tournament again, as well as the rest of our team. Obviously, youve got five freshman that dont know what its all about. Our team has just been so focused on that. WKU overcame a 5-for-17 start on the offensive end and shot 48 percent from the field including 6-for-11 from 3-point range. Senior guard Leslie Logsdon led the way from 3-point range, hitting 4-for-7. Mondays performance left her two shy of Kim Pehlkes school-record 209 career treys. I do what I can to help my team win, Logsdon said. At the right times, I hit some big shots to help us keep the lead. Logsdons first 3 broke a 25-25 tie and gave the Lady Toppers their first lead since 2-0. New Mexico State (13-16) controlled much of the first half, leading by as many as six points. We just wanted to give ourselves a chance and we did that early, NMSU coach Darin Spence said. We just couldnt sustain an effort. We got beat by a good team on their home floor. We just hit a wall. Western went into halftime clinging to a 32-28 lead, but quickly erased any hopes of an Aggie upset, starting the second half with a 26-9 run. The Lady Toppers hit four 3-pointers during the run, three from Logsdon. Those were huge shots, Spence said. She hit three in a row and you could just pop the balloon right there. It took the life out of us. With a sizeable advantage, Cowles was again able to rest her team in preparation for todays championship game. For the second straight day, only two Lady Toppers played more than 30 minutes, although senior guard Elisha Ford strained a muscle in her hip late and is a game-time decision today. Weve entered these games knowing it was going to take 40 minutes and we were playing people that we needed to play to win the basketball game, Cowles said. We were fortunate that we were able to get a good enough lead that we were able to rest some people. Freshman forward Carla Bartee led Western with 18 points and eight rebounds. Logsdon added 17 points, while sophomore guard Porter-Talbert added 16 points and six rebounds. Nicole Black led NMSU with 19 points. Senior guard Princess Moore, who had 20 points in the Aggies 73-70 win in January, was held to just three Monday. New Mexico State finished the game shooting 34 percent from the field, including 5-for-27 from 3-point range. We played good team defense, Porter-Talbert said. At some point in everything things are going to break down … but we got together and played really good team defense. Middle Tennessee 64Denver 61The Lady Raiders overcame an eight-point first-half deficit to rally past the Pioneers and advance to the championship game for the second straight season. Obviously we did not get out of the gates exactly the same way we got of the gates (Sunday), MTSU coach Stephany Smith said. We were a little bit sluggish, but I was proud of the way that we were able to get things going back in the right direction. Denver (14-15) led for most of the first half until MTSU pulled ahead, 27-24, on a 3 from Patrice Holmes with 24 seconds left in the first half. The Lady Raiders (22-7) led by as many as 14 points in the second half before a late Pioneer rally got Denver within three points with under a minute remaining. I cant tell you how proud I am of my kids, Denver coach Pam Tanner said. They were an inspiration. They played their butts off. They didnt quit until the very end of the game when it was zero on the clock. What we were able to do in this tournament is going to propel us into some better things as the program continues to grow. Holmes led Middle Tennessee with 23 points, while Regan Neblett had 18 points to lead Denver. Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700