The WKU Lady Toppers will welcome No. 16 Louisville for their home opener inside E.A. Diddle Arena on Saturday afternoon at 2:30, their second of four games in a six-day period.
The Lady Toppers opened their season with a 74-60 setback at Ball State in their season opener on Thursday, while Louisville dropped its season opener against California by a score of 75-71 last Sunday. Against Ball State, Kayla Smith led WKU with 13 points and Kendall Noble posted the ninth double-double of her career with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Louisville is led by Briahanna Jackson and Mariya Moore, who scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, against the Golden Bears. Asia Durr also added 12 points for the Cardinals.
Louisville was tabbed No. 8 in the preseason Associated Press poll and was selected third in the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason coaches' poll. Last season, the Cardinals reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and posted a 27-7 record.
WKU will be aiming to win its fourth straight home opener; the Lady Toppers have posted a perfect 3-0 record under head coach Michelle Clark-Heard in those games with wins over Northern Kentucky, Austin Peay and Central Arkansas.
Both Clark-Heard and associate head coach Greg Collins are former Louisville assistant coaches. Collins helped to coach the Cardinals from 2002-03 to 2006-07, while Clark-Heard was with the team from 2007-08 to 2011-12. The latter helped Louisville reach the national championship game during the 2008-09 season.
Since Clark-Heard took over the program, WKU has 27 victories in Saturday matchups, its most of any day of the week. The Lady Toppers have a 27-11 record (.711) in Saturday games dating back to 2012-13.
With five assists on Thursday night, Micah Jones broke the 300-assist barrier for her career and now has 304 helpers.
Freshman Kayla Smith earned the start in her regular season debut on Thursday, leading the Lady Toppers with 13 points on the night. WKU started a true freshman in its season opener for the second straight season after Tashia Brown started against Central Arkansas in 2014-15.
Smith was one of five newcomers to make their debuts on Thursday night. Joining her were Sidnee Bopp, Taylor Brown, Dee Givens and Ima Akpan.
Coach Jeff Walz has built Louisville into one of the premier women’s collegiate program in the nation. He has coached the Lady Toppers to two national championship games, beating heavily favored Baylor and dominating center Brittany Griner along the way.
Walz has a strong connection to WKU. His first college coaching job was as an assistant to Paul Sanderford at Western where he helped coach his sister, Jaime Walz, who earned Kentucky Miss Basketball honors in 1996 while playing for Fort Thomas Highlands.
When Sanderford moved to take the head coaching position at the University of Nebraska, Walz followed him as an assistant. While at Nebraska, he helped the program go to a school record three consecutive NCAA appearances.
Walz has also coached at Minnesota and Maryland, assisting Coach Brenda Frese both places. They led the Terps to the 2006 national championship.
He went into this season with a 205-74 record as the head man in Derby City,
The game will be broadcast on 102.7 FM (Bowling Green), TuneIn Radio (free) with Barry Williams doing the play-by-play and Laurie Idlett the analysis. It will be televised on Fox College Sports, WKU PBS (Bowling Green), and WBNA (Louisville) with Jeff Younglove on the play-by-play and Paul Sanderford, who coached the Lady Toppers to three Final Fours and a national championship game.
White Out: all fans are encouraged to wear white to support the Lady Toppers against Louisville
Military Appreciation Day: All military personnel and veterans receive complimentary admission with a valid military ID; friends and family can received reduced price reserved tickets for $5.
Coats for Kids Drive: Bring a new coat for the Bowling Green Jr. Women's Club's Coats for Kids Drive and receive a voucher for a free small drink and popcorn.
Student Pizza Giveaway: The first 500 students will receive free Pizza Hut pizza once in their seats prior to tip-off.
Following Saturday's game, WKU will travel to Anchorage, Alaska, to participate in the 2015 GCI Great Alaska Shootout. The Lady Toppers will face George Mason in the first round on Tuesday at 9 p.m. (CT) and will draw either Pepperdine or Alaska-Anchorage in the championship or the third-place game on Wednesday.
Men’s Game First
Before the women’s game, the WKU men will continue a stretch of five games in eight days with a Saturday afternoon matchup against Stony Brook at noon at E.A. Diddle Arena.
WKU is coming off a 90-85 defeat at Belmont Wednesday night, and Stony Brook lost an overtime battle with No. 17 Vanderbilt, 79-72 Thursday evening. Through two games, WKU is led in scoring by junior Fredrick Edmond at 18.0 points per game, and sophomore Justin Johnson leads the squad with 10.5 rebounds per outing.
Saturday game against the Seawolves is a return game from last year’s game on Long Island as part of the 2014 NIT Season Tip-Off, which Stony Brook won 71-61.
Stony Brook, the preseason America East Conference favorites, returns all five starters and nine letter winners from last year’s team that went 12-4 in the league and 23-12 overall and played in the College Basketball Invitational. The Seawolves are led by two-time America East Player of the Year Jameel Warney, who averaged 16.4 points and 11.7 rebounds per game last season, and a pair of all-conference players last year in Carson Puriefoy and Rayshaun McGrew.
WKU has won 20 of its last 24 regular-season home games, and the Hilltoppers are 43-12 at E.A. Diddle Arena under head coach Ray Harper (.782) and 27-7 over the last three seasons.
The toppers have scored at least 85 points in each of its first two games this season, which is a figure the Hilltoppers reached four times in the entire 2014-15 season and just once in 2013-14.
Entering the weekend, Justin Johnson is tied for ninth in the nation with 13 offensive rebounds, and only four other players in the top-15 in the nation in offensive rebounds have only played two games so far. He is 12-for-14 (.857) from the field to start the season. Johnson and Stony Brook’s Jameel Warney each have a game with nine offensive rebounds to their credit, which is the second-highest single-game offensive rebound total in the nation this season.
Nathan Smith and Stony Brook’s Akwasi Yeboah were teammates at Barking Abbey Academy in England in 2014-15.
Diddle Court Towel Giveaway: The first 500 fans will receive a free Diddle Arena Towel.
After Saturday’s game, WKU heads to Estero, Fla., for three games in the 2015 Gulf Coast Showcase, beginning Monday evening at 5) against Drake. WKU’s next home game comes on Tuesday, Dec. 1, against Eastern Kentucky.