Western Kentucky’s women’s basketball got back into the win column on Thursday night with a 57-45 win at Sam Houston in Huntsville, Texas.

The Lady Toppers (18-7 overall, 9-4 Conference USA) were down early against the Bearkats (12-12, 5-9 CUSA), but runs in the second and third quarters helped WKU hold on for the victory.

Josie Gilvin went off for her second straight double-double the Lady Toppers and the second of the season for the junior. She finished with 23 points, a career high 11 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. It was her third 20-point performance of the season.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first quarter, with Sam Houston taking a narrow 12-7 lead into the second quarter. The two teams combined for 10 turnovers in the frame, six coming from the Lady Toppers.

WKU bounced back in the second quarter, outscoring Sam Houston 19-12. After going back and forth to start the period, the Lady Toppers rattled off an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game with 5:33 left in the half. The teams traded baskets from there, but WKU scored the final five points of the quarter to take a 34-28 lead into halftime.

The Lady Toppers opened the third quarter with a pair of 3-pointers by Destiny Salary and Gilvin to take a 10-point lead. Sam Houston answered back with four straight points. Scoring went back and forth until the 3:48 mark when WKU went on a 9-4 run to close out the quarter, taking a 47-36 lead into the final quarter.

WKU scored only two points in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter, getting outscored 9-2 in that stretch. The Lady Toppers jolted back to close out the game on an 8-0 run to secure the win.

It was only the fifth time under Greg Collins that WKU has won a game when scoring less than 60 points. The Lady Toppers are 5-35 under Collins and 2-3 on the season when only scoring fewer than 60.

On the flip side, WKU is 98-26 under Collins when holding teams below 70 (17-2 this season), 49-9 holding teams below 60 (9-0 this season) and 12-1 holding teams below 50 (4-0 this season).

WKU had 18 assists on 22 made field goals, with 81.8% of WKU’s made shots were assisted.

The Lady Toppers connected on five 3-pointers in the game, bringing their season total to 185 which is the ninth most by a WKU team all-time.

The Lady Toppers will take on Louisiana Tech on Saturday as the second part of the road swing. Tipoff between WKU and LA Tech is set for 3 p.m. in Ruston, Louisiana.