Western Kentucky picked up a commitment for the defensive side of the ball on Thursday.

Brandon Higgs announced his commitment to the Hilltoppers via Twitter, giving the program its second commitment on defense from the Class of 2020. Higgs is a 6-foot-1, 185-pound cornerback out of Hillcrest High School in Simpsonville, S.C.

Rivals lists WKU as Higgs’ only scholarship offer, but shows he had interest from Akron and Miami (Ohio). Higgs tweeted his offer from WKU on June 4 and made a visit to the school on June 15. He joins safety Talique Allen (Peach County HS, Fort Valley, Ga.) as the other defensive commitment so far.

WKU’s Current Class of 2020

Talique Allen, S, Peach County HS, Fort Valley, Ga.

Travis Collier, ATH, Douglas County HS, Douglasville, Ga.

Mark Goode, TE, LaRue County HS, Hodgenville

Brandon Higgs, CB, Hillcrest High School, Simpsonville, S.C.

Colt Jackson, OL, South Warren HS, Bowling Green

Shamar Sandgren, WR, Bluffton HS, Bluffton, S.C.

Lady Tops add Samford transfer Lyon

Western Kentucky women’s soccer coach Jason Neidell announced the signing of Lucy Lyon, a midfielder transfer from Samford who will join the Lady Toppers for their upcoming fall campaign.

“We are excited to get a late transfer of the caliber of Lucy, who will be immediately eligible to compete. With several key midfielders returning from injury, Lucy will give us much-needed depth in this critical part of the field,” Neidell said in a news release. “Most importantly, Lucy has tremendous character and is already familiar with several players in our program. We look forward to welcoming Lucy into our soccer family.”

Lyon, a high school teammate of rising senior Chandler Backes and incoming freshman Emily Speidel at Carmel High School in Indiana, will seek to bolster a midfield that lost All-Conference USA players Sarah Gorham and Nicole Roseland to graduation after the 2018 season.

At Carmel, Lyon helped the Greyhounds to reach at least the sectional championship match in each of her four seasons, including a trip to the state championship match as a freshman in 2014. An all-conference selection, Lyon was a three-year starter for Carmel and pushed the Greyhounds to a 62-8-8 record across her four high school seasons.

In Lyon’s one season at Samford in 2018, the Bulldogs posted a 12-6-1 record, a mark that included an 8-0-1 tally in Southern Conference play that gave Samford its fifth straight SoCon regular-season championship. The Bulldogs reached the semifinals of the SoCon Tournament before falling against Furman.

The Lady Toppers are set to begin their 2019 season with an exhibition contest against Murray State on Aug. 14 at 6 p.m. at the WKU Soccer Complex. The squad will remain at home for its regular season opener Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. against Belmont.