WKU sophomore guard Micah Jones hit two free throws with 0.6 seconds remaining to secure a 66-62 win over UALR, allowing WKU to advance to the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Championships for the 20th time in program history.
WKU will face Arkansas State on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans for the championship.
Redshirt freshman Kendall Noble had 19 points, four rebounds, four steals, four assists and no turnovers in 38 minutes. She converted on 7-of-13 shots in the game. Jones was also key for WKU, posting 17 points with just one turnover in 37 minutes. Jones made 7-of-8 free throws, including both her attempts with 0.6 left to seal the win.
The 13th District Connection was in evidence. All-American Chastity Gooch of Franklin is playing some of the best basketball in the nation. One of the officials in the game was Troy Winders of Todd County.
Gooch, a junior, finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists, adding to her outstanding tournament opener in which she had 21 point, 14 rebound performance on Wednesday in the quarterfinals against Louisiana-Lafayette.
With the win, WKU (23-8, 13-5) has advanced to the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Championships for the 20th time in program history and first time since 2011. WKU is seeking its first Sun Belt Conference Championship since 2008. The program owns nine tournament titles in the history of the program.
Head coach Michelle Clark-Heard has now led the Lady Toppers to the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Championships in just her second season as the head coach her alma mater. With a win on Saturday, she can become just the second coach in program history to win the Sun Belt Conference Championship within their first two years as the WKU coach. Former coach Mary Taylor-Cowles won the title in 2002-03 in her first season as coach of the Lady Toppers.
The Lady Toppers got off to a hot start, using an early 14-0 run to jump ahead 16-4 in the first eight minutes of the game. Gooch scored 10 of WKU’s first 16 points to set the tone early for WKU. WKU forced ten UALR turnovers in the first eight minutes during the early going. WKU’s first turnover of the contest didn’t come until the 5:15 mark of the first half.
The Trojans fought back though as cold shooting plagued the Lady Toppers. UALR eventually took a 26-25 lead with 1:24 left in the half following an 8-0 run after WKU had led 25-18 and by as many as 12 points in the opening half.
Jones answered though, hitting two three-point field goals in the final one minute to help the Lady Toppers secure a 31-26 advantage at halftime despite shooting just 31.4 percent.
WKU again came out hot in the second half, extending the 6-0 run to 9-0 and then adding another 8-0 run as the Lady Toppers jumped ahead by 15 points at 44-29 with just under 15 remaining in the second half. The Trojans quickly responded with their own 8-0 run to cut the score to 44-37.
UALR (18-12, 12-6) gradually fought back and eventually tied the game at 56-56 with 3:40 remaining in the game on a free throw by Taylor Ford. After the teams exchanged baskets and the score tied at 58-58, Jones nailed a jumper with 2:19 left and after the teams continued to exchange scoreless possessions, Noble then made her biggest play of the day with 32.8 left, converting on a three-point play that gave WKU a 63-58 lead.
UALR converted on two free throws with 17.6 seconds left before Jones hit 1-of-2. UALR had its final chance when they were fouled with 2.6 seconds remaining on a three-point attempt. Ford hit 2-of-3, missing the third on purpose, but the Trojans failed to recover the rebound.
Jones’ free throws with 0.6 left sealed the win.
WKU won despite shooting just 35.9 percent for the game. In turn, the Lady Toppers committed a Clark-Heard era low five turnovers while forcing 16.