FRISCO, Texas — For Western Kentucky to maintain its dominance as the back-to-back Conference USA Tournament champions, it’ll have to tighten up a defense that’s been a weakness all season.

Good thing for the Lady Toppers is that improved effort led to three straight wins entering the tournament.

“They’ve had success defensively off and on for an entire game and stretches of the game on the boards,” WKU coach Greg Collins said after the team’s shootaround Tuesday night at The Star. “They’re starting to learn how to put that whole game together.”

WKU’s first shot at a three-peat begins Thursday against Old Dominion in the C-USA quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m. CDT (ESPN+) in Frisco. Old Dominion (21-9) ran by a short-handed Florida Atlantic squad 60-32 in the opening round Wednesday morning at The Star.

WKU (17-13) is 9-1 in the C-USA Tournament since joining the league in 2014-15 and has won nine straight over Old Dominion, including a 75-60 win on Jan. 5 at E.A. Diddle Arena.

That first meeting came in the middle of WKU opening up league play 5-0. Defensive struggles, particularly with rebounding, held WKU back in the middle of the year until it closed out with wins against North Texas, Marshall and Middle Tennessee to earn a No. 4 seed and first-round bye in the tournament.

Old Dominion also closed the regular season by winning three straight, including a four-point win over the Owls in the finale.

FAU arrived Wednesday severely hampered with injuries and had six eligible players, allowing Old Dominion to breeze into the quarterfinals.

“They’re very different from a confidence standpoint than when we played them earlier in the year,” Collins said.

A lack of rebounding through league play led to second-chance points and opponents owning the Lady Toppers on the boards. WKU averaged four fewer rebounds per game and only outrebounded four teams in the league’s 16-game schedule.

WKU outrebounded Marshall in an overtime win on Feb. 23 and MTSU had just three boards more than the Lady Toppers in the finale last week. North Texas and Marshall each shot over 40 percent in the last two games, but WKU made up for it by forcing turnovers into points and winning second-chance battles on the boards.

Piecing little areas together for an entire game helped put WKU in its current spot in the tournament.

“We really sat down and played defense and started boxing out and rebounding and I think that really changed the whole energy to the game because we could score, it was just the defensive end that was hurting us,” WKU guard Alexis Brewer said. “It really showed the whole team we’re capable of doing it. Before we thought we couldn’t do it, it was too hard, but defense is all effort and we bought in and did it against Middle and I think we’re going to continue to do that.”

The Lady Toppers shot over 50 percent from the field made 10 3-pointers in their earlier win over Old Dominion this season. It helped that the Monarchs played mostly without third-leading Taylor Edwards (11.0 points per game), who played just five minutes after getting in foul trouble.

Edwards, Ajah Wayne and Dejah Carter each scored 10 points for Old Dominion on Wednesday.

“We’re glad to have this first game under our belt,” ODU coach Nikki McCray said. “It was ugly. It’s always good to get your legs underneath you. We were sloppy, but this team is finding a way to win at the right time. I’m proud of our effort. We won with the things we needed to win with, which is rebounds and defense.”

Old Dominion (21-9) vs. Western Kentucky (17-13)

11:30 a.m., Thursday, The Star

Probable starters

Western Kentucky – Whitney Creech, g, 5-8, jr. (5.5 ppg, 3.0 apg); Alexis Brewer, g, 5-9, r-jr. (10.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg); Meral Abdelgawad, g, 5-11, fr. (8.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg); Dee Givens, f, 6-1, r-jr. (18.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg); Raneem Elgedawy, f, 6-4, so. (16.0 ppg, 7.4 rpg)

Old Dominion – Taylor Edwards, g, 5-9, jr. (11.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg); Victoria Morris, g, 5-8, so. (12.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg); Maggie Robinson, f, 6-0, jr. (7.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg); Ajah Wayne, g/f, 5-10, fr. (11.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg); Amari Young, f, 5-11, fr. (8.1 ppg, 6.5 rpg)

Online Stream – ESPN+

Radio ESPN 102.7 FM or 1450 AM

Coaches Greg Collins (17-13 first season), Western Kentucky; Nikki Mccray-Penson (29-32 second season, 29-32 second overall) Old Dominion.

Series WKU leads 16-8 (WKU won the last meeting 75-60 on Jan. 5 at Diddle Arena)

Last time out

Western Kentucky won 67-56 against Middle Tennessee on March 7; Old Dominion defeated FAU 60-32 on Wednesday in the first round of the C-USA Tournament