By MICHEAL COMPTON / micheal.compton@bgdailynews.com

The Western Kentucky women’s basketball team doesn’t mince any words, they are determined to put last season in the rear view mirror.

A season that began with promise – a 12-6 start with three straight wins to open Conference USA play – was quickly derailed by injuries and the inconsistency. WKU ended the season with seven straight losses and a 15-17 record overall, leaving the Lady Toppers wondering what could have been.

WKU returns a core of key players, who will mix with nine newcomers, eager to close the book on that disappointing chapter and forge on a new, much more successful journey this season.

“Our biggest thing as leaders is to want to win a championship,” WKU senior guard Alexis Mead said. “We express that to the (new) girls, express the importance. We have a chip on our shoulder. We didn’t end the season well last year and we think about that every day. We really do take that personally. I’m sure not a lot of people think we are going to finish at the top at the end of this year, but we believe that since that day we lost to Liberty last year. Ever since that day we have woke up every day and said, ‘We are winning a championship.’ ”

Graduate senior Destiny Salary agreed the Lady Toppers are motivated.

“I think we took it very personally,” Salary said. “We have been in the gym. We’ve been working harder than we ever have. Our new players, they see us put in the work and it makes them want to put in the work as well. We are all working hard and it comes together.”

WKU coach Greg Collins said his team isn’t just motivated, but the talent is there too. The key is how to put it all together.

“Motivated and talented, that is what you want to be,” Collins said. “The challenge from a coaching perspective has been trying to put all the new faces and new personalities together and try to make it seem seamless, try to fit it like it has worked together for years. That has really been the challenge, and the girls have helped there. We are not there. It’s a work in progress, but that is where we are trying to get.”

Mead returns as a four-year starter, a stalwart at point guard, averaging 11 points a game with a team-best 131 assists while battling through injuries to appear in all 32 games. Salary appeared in 20 games, making 13 starts, averaging 12.7 points.

Junior Acacia Hayes also is back, healthy after missing eight games with a knee injury. Hayes led the Lady Toppers in scoring (14 ppg) and is one of the team’s top returning 3-point threats.

Junior guard Josie Gilvin and sophomore guard Mackenzie Chatfield round out the returning members of this year’s roster. Salary said the key has been finding a way to mesh with the nine newcomers.

“I think it is good,” Salary said. “We have diversity. We have a little bit of everything on this team. The more we continue to work hard together and jell, I think we will be fine.”

Collins said the new additions bring much needed depth and size, something that was missing last season.

It starts with 6-foot-3 junior forward Zsofia Telegdy, a transfer from Kansas who started in the exhibition game against Lee University and according to Collins brings a presence that WKU hasn’t had in a while.

Mariama Sow, a 6-3 transfer from UTEP, is another post player looking to add depth. Junior forward Mya Pratcher comes from Jackson State and showed flashes in the exhibition game.

Freshman guard Salma Khedr gives WKU size in the backcourt, with Torri James the other freshman on the roster.

Caleigh-Rose West, a 6-1 senior forward who did not play in the exhibition, will provide depth when she is ready according to Collins. Sophomore forward Tatum Boettjer is working through an injury. Junior guards Tia Shelling and Yendri Acosta round out the roster.

“That has really been the challenge,” Collins said. “Getting it to all fit together. Making sure everybody is on the same page. Make it seem like it’s fluid and it flows. It’s not perfect, but right now I kind of like where we are. We still got work to do.”

Collins said he has been pleased by how quickly the team chemistry has come together, with it as positive as WKU has had in some time.

“For the most part it is a good group to be around,” Collins said. “There are times when they will frustrate you, make you mad, but they are a lot of fun.”

WKU enters the season picked to finish fourth in Conference USA, only adding to the motivation. Collins said there are plenty of talented teams in the conference, but he thinks once his pieces come together that his team has a chance to be right in the mix.

“I think we are going to be right there,” Collins said. “I think we are going to be able to compete with everybody in this conference. I think the conference is competitive as it has been in a while, but I like our team. I like the players that we have. We don’t have the experience that maybe some of the other rosters have right now, but we will when it counts. We will in January.”