Even when the Lady Toppers don’t play their best, they’re still manhandling opponents.

Kendall Noble led five players in double figures with 17 points Saturday, and Western Kentucky won its 13th straight game, a 81-42 triumph over visiting Florida International. It was WKU’s 11th straight victory by at least 14 points despite this one coming with a few sleepy lulls in offensive play and some napping on the defensive boards.

Still, for a team hoping to re-enter the Top 25 rankings, the blowout took shape early and the cruise control button was flipped on midway through the second half.

“It’s not really a surprise – I mean, we’re talented,” WKU freshman Tashia Brown said. “Everybody has something they put forth every game.”

Noble also finished with 10 rebounds, five steals and five assists. Chastity Gooch and Brown scored 12 points each, Micah Jones finished with 11 and Alexis Govan added 10. The win was also WKU’s 15th straight in conference play, 12th straight at home and 11th in a row by more than 14 points.

WKU (16-2) is 5-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2012-13 season and will be looking to go 6-0 in league play for the first time since 2007-08. Michelle Clark-Heard’s squad goes back on the road this week to play at UTEP on Thursday and at Texas San Antonio on Saturday.

“It’s going to be our first time traveling to El Paso, and then we got to turn around and go to Texas San Antonio – it’s a big swing for us,” Heard said. “But, again, in order for you to keep being successful and for your program to grow, you have to go on the road and be ready to compete and play. We’ll be ready.”

WKU got off to another dominant start Saturday, leading 13-0 after five minutes while getting scores from four different players and four assists on five made field goals.

FIU found its footing and got back within 15-8 on a Kiandre’a Pound 3 from the top of the key. Western Kentucky responded with a 12-2 run – a Jones layup, a Govan putback, a Jones steal and layup, two straight Brown layups and a Jalynn McClain bank shot after running the fastbreak. That expanded the margin to 27-10.

Destini Feagin and Taylor Shade drained back-to-back long balls to bring FIU within 27-16 and a corner 3 from Pound made it 31-19 with 4:13 left in the half. Pound’s uncontested layup with 2:45 to play brought the Panthers within 33-23 – but they didn’t score again the rest of the half.

Noble hit a 3 from the left corner, Ivy Brown converted a three-point play after sinking a putback while falling down and Johnson fed Noble who fed Gooch running the fastbreak for a layup at the buzzer giving the Lady Toppers a 41-23 lead at halftime.

“I thought our offense wasn’t flowing very well,” Noble said of the first half. “But thank God we were getting steals because we weren’t really scoring. Coach was telling us every media timeout whether our energy had increased. That’s what we focused on in the second half.”

The Lady Toppers started the second half much like they did the first, this time using a 13-1 run to build a 54-24 lead. The Panthers never came close to rallying after that, and WKU led by as many as 41.

FIU (3-13, 0-5 Conference USA) was led by Pound’s 14 and Feagin’s 11. The Panthers outrebounded WKU 46-43, but turned the ball over 23 times, were outscored 54-14 in the paint and 20-4 in fastbreak points.

— Follow Western Kentucky University women’s basketball reporter Chad Bishop on Twitter at twitter.com/MrChadBishop or visit bgdailynews.com.