Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball

Western Kentucky Lady Toppers
Western Kentucky Lady Toppers
	2024–25 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball team
University	Western Kentucky University
First season	1914–15
All-time record	1026–499 (.673)
Head coach	Greg Collins (7th season)
Conference	C-USA; East Division
Location	Bowling Green, Kentucky
Arena	E. A. Diddle Arena ; (capacity: 7,326)
Nickname	Lady Toppers
Colors	Red and white;
Uniforms
Home	Away ;
NCAA tournament runner-up
	1992
NCAA tournament Final Four
	1985, 1986, 1992
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
	1985, 1986, 1992
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
	1985, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995
NCAA tournament appearances
	1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018
Conference tournament champions
	Sun Belt: 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2003, 2008, 2014; C-USA: 2015, 2017, 2018
Conference regular season champions
	Kentucky State Champions: 1923 ; KIAC: 1929; Sun Belt: 1989, 1992, 1993, 1997; Sun Belt East: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008; C-USA: 2015, 2017

The Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball team represents Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The team currently competes in the NCAA Division I as a member of Conference USA. Greg Collins is entering his seventh season as the head coach of the Lady Toppers in 2024–25 after previously serving as the team's associate head coach under Michelle Clark-Heard.^[2]

Postseason

Western Kentucky University's women's basketball team has appeared in 32 national postseason tournaments, all since 1984.

NCAA tournament results

The Lady Toppers have appeared in the NCAA tournament 20 times, with a record of 17–20. They were NCAA runners-up in 1992 and made Final Four appearances in 1985 and 1986.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result/Score
1985	Final Four	Middle Tennessee Texas Mississippi vs. Georgia	W 77–55 W 92–90 W 72–68 L 78–91
1986	Final Four	St. Joseph’s vs. James Madison vs. Rutgers vs. Texas	W 74–65 W 72–51 W 89–74 L 65–90
1987	First Round	at USC	L 69–81
1988	First Round	at Georgia	L 66–84
1989	First Round	West Virginia	L 57–66
1990	First Round	at DePaul	L 63–73
1991	Sweet Sixteen	Florida State at Tennessee	W 72–69 L 61–68
1992	NCAA Finals	Alabama vs. Tennessee vs. Maryland vs. Southwest Missouri State vs. Stanford	W 98–68 W 75–70 W 75–70 W 84–72 L 62–78
1993	Sweet Sixteen	Miami (FL) vs. Ohio State	W 78–63 L 73–86
1994	Second Round	at Rutgers at Southern Mississippi	W 84–73 L 69–72
1995	Sweet Sixteen	Toledo Oregon State at Tennessee	W 77–63 W 85–78 L 67–87
1997	First Round	vs. Arizona	L 54–76
1998	Second Round	vs. Stephen F. Austin at Tennessee	W 88–76 L 62–82
2000	Second Round	vs. Marquette at Duke	W 68–65 L 70–90
2003	First Round	vs. Rutgers	L 52–64
2008	First Round	vs. UTEP	L 60–92
2014	First Round	at Baylor	L 74–87
2015	First Round	vs. Texas	L 64–66
2017	First Round	vs. Ohio State	L 63–70
2018	First Round	vs. Oregon State	L 58–82

WNIT results

The Lady Toppers have appeared in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) 13 times, with an overall record of 18-15. They made the semifinals of the tournament in 2006 and 2007.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result/Score
1984*	Third Round	vs. California vs. Vanderbilt vs. Clemson	W 82–76 L 68–79 L 106–110 (OT)
1996*	Third Round	vs. Arizona vs. Princeton vs. UC Santa Barbara	L 72–80 W 74–41 L 61–77
2001	Quarterfinals	Mississippi Indiana Ohio State	W 95–92 W 64–63 L 61–70
2002	First Round	at Illinois	L 84–91
2004	Quarterfinals	Cincinnati Memphis at UNLV	W 80–78 (OT) W 104–87 L 75–78
2005	First Round	Xavier	L 85–87
2006	Semifinals	Tennessee Tech Charlotte at Villanova at Kansas State	W 83–66 W 81–68 W 94–81 L 56–57 (OT)
2007	Semifinals	Minnesota Mississippi State Hofstra at Wisconsin	W 73–57 W 56–53 W 72–54 L 72–79
2010	First Round	Illinois	L 51–68
2013	Second Round	East Carolina at Auburn	W 88–77 (OT) L 66–84
2016	Quarterfinals	Dayton Tennessee-Martin at Saint Louis at South Dakota	W 89–72 W 64–57 W 78–76 (OT) L 54–68
2019	Third Round	at Miami (OH) Morehead State at Ohio	W 67–63 W 68–65 L 60–68
2023	First Round	at Kansas	L 72–86

Note: Appearances were in the National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT), prior to the start of the WNIT.

Rivalries

Source: ^[3]

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

**WKU–Middle Tennessee: All-Time Record**
Games played	First meeting	Last meeting	WKU wins	WKU losses	Win %
78	1924–25 (lost 7–41)	January 23, 2021 (lost 60–77)	33	45	.423

Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters

**WKU–Louisiana Tech: All-Time Record**
Games played	First meeting	Last meeting	WKU wins	WKU losses	Win %
50	December 3, 1983 (lost 50–82)	January 9, 2021 (lost 52–58)	23	27	.460

Louisville Cardinals

**WKU–Louisville: All-Time Record**
Games played	First meeting	Last meeting	WKU wins	WKU losses	Win %
47	1921–22 (won 26–6)	November 5, 2019 (lost 56–75)	25	22	.532

Home venue

E. A. Diddle Arena

Players

WNBA draft

Year	Rnd	Pick	Overall	Player name	Position	WNBA team
2001	3	1	33	ShaRae Mansfield	F	Houston Comets
2006	3	8	36	Tiffany Porter-Talbert	G	Los Angeles Sparks
2008	3	3	31	Crystal Kelly	F	Houston Comets

Coaches

J. L. Author (1914–16) 1–0 record in 2 seasons as head coach (incomplete records)
No Team 1916–21
Josephine Cherry and W.J. Craig (1921–22) 4–0 record in 1 season as co-head coaches
Edgar Diddle (1922–24) 11–6 record in 2 seasons as head coach
Jane Culbert (1924–25) 3–6 record in 1 season as head coach
Nell Robbins (1925–26) 3–6 record in 1 season as head coach
Elizabeth Dabbs (1926–30) 20–11 record in 4 seasons as head coach (incomplete records)
No Team (1930–73)
Pam Dickson (1973–1974) 4–7 record in 1 season as head coach
Dr. Carol Hughes (1974–1976) 22–20 record in 2 seasons as head coach
Julia Yeater (1976–1978) 44–18 in 2 seasons as head coach
Eileen Canty (1978–1982) 50–62 in 4 seasons as head coach
Paul Sanderford (1982–1997) 365–120 in 15 seasons as head coach
Steve Small (1997–2001) 88–40 in 4 seasons as head coach
Shawn Campbell (2001–2002) 14–12 in 1 season as head coach
Marti Whitmore (2002) 2–2 in 1 season as head coach (finished 2002 season after Campbell's departure)
Mary Taylor Cowles (2002–2012) 199–119 in 10 seasons as head coach
Michelle Clark-Heard (2012–2018) 154–48 in 6 seasons as head coach
Greg Collins (2018–present) 49–38 in 3 seasons as head coach

References

^ "WKU Colors". WKU Communication & Branding Manual (PDF). August 21, 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
^ "Source: Greg Collins to be named WKU women's basketball coach". Bowling Green Daily News. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
^ "Western Kentucky University Athletics" (PDF). www.wkusports.com.

External links

Official website

[1] "WKU Colors". WKU Communication & Branding Manual (PDF). August 21, 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2018.

[2] "Source: Greg Collins to be named WKU women's basketball coach". Bowling Green Daily News. Retrieved 2018-03-27.

[3] "Western Kentucky University Athletics" (PDF). www.wkusports.com.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball
Venues	E. A. Diddle Arena (1973–present)
Culture & lore	Big Red
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

v t e Western Kentucky University
Located in: Bowling Green, Kentucky
Academics	Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky
Athletics	Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Football Men's basketball Women's basketball Baseball Hilltopper Sports Network Hilltopper Sports Satellite Network Western Kentucky Big Red Marching Band Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium E. A. Diddle Arena Conference USA
Campus	College Heights Herald Henry Hardin Cherry Hall Kentucky Museum Van Meter Hall Western Kentucky University Heating Plant
Life	Big Red VAMPY WKU Public Radio WKYU-TV WWHR WKUE
People	List of Western Kentucky University people
Founded: 1906 Students: 21,048 Endowment: 109.9 million

v t e Conference USA women's basketball
Teams	FIU Panthers Jacksonville State Gamecocks Kennesaw State Owls Liberty Lady Flames Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders New Mexico State Aggies Sam Houston Bearkats UTEP Miners (leaving in 2026) Western Kentucky Lady Toppers
Future teams	Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens Missouri State Lady Bears (both joining in 2025)
Championships & awards	Conference USA women's basketball tournament
Seasons	1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24