Western Kentucky notched two home wins last week to end the month of February.

Now with the calendar turning to March, Kendall Noble and her Lady Topper teammates want to keep their momentum going through the end of the regular season and into next week’s Conference USA Tournament.

“We definitely want to keep rolling,” the redshirt junior guard said Tuesday. “We don’t want to take any steps back because then our confidence could dwindle.”

WKU (22-5 overall, 13-3 Conference USA) closes its regular-season slate this week with a road trip south.

Coach Michelle Clark-Heard’s Lady Toppers will be in Hattiesburg, Miss., to tangle with Southern Miss at 6 p.m. Thursday before heading west to Ruston, La., on Saturday for a 7 p.m. date with Louisiana Tech.

The games are two final tune-ups for WKU before it takes the court March 10 in a C-USA Tournament quarterfinal game in Birmingham, Ala.

“I think we’re really excited,” Heard said. “We came off a really good week with the opportunity to finish up here at home and finish up with two wins.

“So we’re looking forward. We’re just excited to get on the road and play the games and do what we need to and just take them one game at a time, same thing we’ve been doing.”

Last week was a productive one for the Lady Toppers. They had been 3-3 over their previous six contests heading into a two-game homestand at E.A. Diddle Arena against C-USA foes Middle Tennessee and UAB.

They’d also been struggling defensively, giving up an average of 77.3 points per game.

WKU got back on track against the Blue Raiders and Blazers. The team forced more than 20 turnovers in both games, topping MTSU 62-51 on Feb. 25 and UAB 64-55 Saturday on forward Jalynn McClain’s senior day.

“Defense wins games,” freshman forward Dee Givens said. Heard “always says the offense will come. If we lock down and play defense and hold teams under 60 points or 65, then we’ll come out with victories.”

The defensive efforts last week were a return to form for the Lady Toppers, who held opponents to an average of less than 60 points per game for the first two-plus months of the year.

Heard said she’ll be looking for her team to carry those efforts over into this week’s games against Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech. The Golden Eagles rank 13th in the 14-team C-USA in scoring (59.9 points per game), while the Lady Techsters check in at No. 6 (68.4 ppg).

WKU scores the fourth-most points in the conference (71.1 ppg) and gives up the fifth-fewest (62.9 ppg).

“I think the most important thing is for us to continue getting better defensively,” Heard said. “I’m really proud of what we’ve done in the past couple of games.

“We just want to make sure we continue to do those things – rebounding, making sure we’re executing in certain times of the game, especially toward the end.”

The Lady Toppers draw a Southern Miss team that’s 14-13 overall and 7-9 in C-USA play. Coach Joye Lee-McNelis’ Golden Eagles were picked to finish fourth in the league this season, one year after falling to WKU in the 2015 C-USA Tournament championship game.

But Southern Miss is down in the standings, tied for seventh alongside Marshall and Rice. By comparison, the Lady Toppers are tied for second with Middle Tennessee and would be the No. 3 seed if the C-USA Tournament began today.

The Golden Eagles got a tough break earlier this season when Jerontay Clemons was ruled academically ineligible over winter break. Clemons was a C-USA Preseason All-Conference Team selection.

Young center Caitlin Jenkins has become Southern Miss’ go-to player in Clemons’ absence. The C-USA Freshman of the Year candidate tallies 12.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per contest.

Thursday’s game will serve as Jenkins’ last chance to impress league awards voters before ballots are due Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Noble will make her final case for the C-USA Player of the Year award.

The 5-foot-11 Hazard native is the only Division I player in the nation averaging 17 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 5.0 apg and 2.5 spg. She’s one of six players up for C-USA’s top award.

“We’re just going to go out there,” Noble said, “play hard, have fun and just do what we do.”

– Follow Daily News sports reporter Brad Stephens on Twitter at twitter.com/stephens_brad or visit bgdailynews.com.

Western Kentucky (22-5, 13-3) at Southern Miss (14-13, 7-9)

6 p.m., Thursday, Reed Green Coliseum

Probable starters

Western Kentucky

Tashia Brown, F, 6-1 so. (17.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg); Kendall Noble, G, 5-11 r-jr. (17.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg); Ivy Brown, F, 6-1 so. (11.9 ppg, 9.1 rpg); Kayla Smith, G/F, 5-11 fr. (5.8 ppg, 1.6 rpg); Jalynn McClain, F, 6-0 sr. (3.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg)

Southern Miss

Lashyra Cotton, F, 5-11 jr. (4.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg); Shayla Wilson, F, 6-1 jr. (2.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg); Keri Jewett-Giles, G, 5-6 fr. (7.0 ppg, 3.3 apg); Brittanny Dinkins, G, 5-7 jr. (10.5 ppg, 3.5 apg); Brittny Norris, G, 5-9 jr. (6.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg)

Television

WKUsports.com (online)

Radio

WWKU 1450-AM and 102.7-FM

Coaches

Michelle Clark-Heard (98-30, fourth year; 122-62 overall), WKU; Joye Lee-McNelis (192-181, 12th year; 421-337 overall), Southern Miss

Series record

Southern Miss leads 2-1 (WKU won last meeting 60-57 on March 14, 2015 at the Conference USA Tournament in Birmingham, Ala.).

Last time out

WKU beat UAB 64-55 at home on Saturday; Southern Miss lost 57-55 at North Texas on Saturday.