When Tashia Brown was taken out of her usual scoring flow against Middle Tennessee on Thursday night, Western Kentucky found other options.

Brown still finished with a team-high 17 points in WKU’s 57-43 win over MTSU – the Lady Toppers’ fourth straight – but no one was bigger for taking the pressure off Brown than junior Sidnee Bopp.

Promoted to the starting lineup for the second straight game and third time this season, Bopp has built a reputation for providing a spark off the bench and demanding attention from defenses as a hot 3-point shooter.

Why not start off a game with that energy instead, Michelle Clark-Heard thought.

“Sid is not scared when the lights come on and we know that,” Heard said. “She’s been very big in a lot of big games for us in the past. Now her role has shifted a bit and she has the ability for people to guard her from the beginning and not when she steps on the floor.

“It helps us because it takes some of the pressure off Tashia and Ivy (Brown) and you have to play someone that can shoot it as deep as she can.”

Bopp played a season-high 33 minutes and finished with 10 points. She scored WKU’s first points of the night on her first 3-pointer, which served as the game’s only score for the first three minutes and 43 seconds.

She didn’t leave the floor at all in the first quarter and logged 18 of the possible 20 minutes in the first half.

She made her first two 3-point attempts and finished the night shooting 3-for-7 from the field with two free throws.

“Coach Heard always tells me before games to calm down, play defense and let it fly,” Bopp said. “That’s what I tried to do tonight. I didn’t shoot very well, but none of us did. Defense, I try my best to bring the energy early and I felt that really helped the team as we came out tonight. I had energy and everyone else was feeding off of it.”

Bopp’s energy defensively forced MTSU to 14 first-half points and the Lady Raiders’ 43 points at the finish was the lowest in the series since 2008. WKU allowed just two field goals in the first half and held MTSU to 13-of-40 (.325) shooting from the floor.

Known mostly for her surefire 3-point shot, the 5-foot-6 Marmaduke, Ark., native has been at her best in big moments in the postseason. She hit 12 3s in three games in the C-USA Tournament last year and as a freshman hit a memorable corner triple in overtime to push WKU into the WNIT quarterfinals.

“Of course, it’s going to be a spark,” Tashia Brown said. “Sid hit a big 3 and just electrified everybody and it pumps us up on defense. We just try to focus on getting stops and letting that be our energy.”

Trio brings quality minutes off bench

WKU’s 14 points off the bench might have been below the team’s average, but it was 14 quality points from three who made statements against MTSU.

Freshman Sherry Porter led the charge with eight points and three rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench. Porter had two offensive boards and got a steal and drew high praise from Heard for her quality shots.

Porter drained a baseline shot in the second quarter that ended a 8 1/2-minute scoring drought in the first half for the Lady Toppers.

“Got to give credit to the freshman,” Heard said. “She guarded and she made some wide-open shots. She did a lot of things off the bench and that’s what you’ve got to have in the conference. People have to step up when things happen.”

A game removed from Heard’s decision to sit Dee Givens against Lee University, the junior from Lexington came in for five timely points. Junior Kayla Smith, who continues to battle health complications, played 10 minutes in her first action since Nov. 30 against Evansville.

Smith grabbled two rebounds and split a pair of free throws in 10 minutes.

“Kayla has been out for a while and just to be able to get her 10 minutes was really good and she gave us 10 quality minutes,” Heard said. “We’ll keep evaluating and see. She’s been out for months without playing. For her to be out and come in and give us some big minutes in this game was huge and Dee is the same way. We’ve got to get her back on track making shots and doing what she normally can.”

Creech continues shooting funk

Heard believes the slump is ending soon for sophomore Whitney Creech. The 5-8 guard has made just three field goals in the last three games, making her a combined 3-for-21 shooting during that stretch.

Creech was 1-for-5 from the field Thursday and brought in three rebounds and dished out two assists. Creech has started all 14 games and hasn’t failed to score, but her two points against MTSU was the second time in the last three games she’s only posted a single basket.

Creech is shooting 47-of-116 (.405) through 14 games.

“She’s just kind of in that stretch,” Heard said. “In any situation, Whit works so hard all the time. Sometimes she puts a lot of pressure on herself and right now Whit is pressing because she wants to be great. We’re talking to her about letting the game flow and come. I’m not worried about that because of who she is and how she works every single day.”{&end}