# 2015–16 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball team

The 2015–16 WKU Lady Toppers basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Toppers, led by third year head coach Michelle Clark-Heard, played their home games at E. A. Diddle Arena and were second year members of Conference USA. They finished the season 27–7, 15–3 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the C-USA women's tournament to Marshall. They were invited to the Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they defeated Dayton and Tennessee–Martin, Saint Louis in the first, second and third rounds before falling to South Dakota in the quarterfinals.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/03/2015* 7:00 pm | Ouachita Baptist | W 108–43 | – | E. A. Diddle Arena (829) Bowling Green, KY |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/19/2015* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Ball State | L 60–74 | 0–1 | John E. Worthen Arena (987) Muncie, IN |
| 11/21/2015* 2:30 pm, FCS/WKYU | No. 16 Louisville | W 71–69 | 1–1 | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,176) Bowling Green, KY |
| 11/24/2015* 9:00 pm | vs. George Mason Great Alaska Shootout semifinals | W 84–58 | 2–1 | Alaska Airlines Center (2,299) Anchorage, AK |
| 11/25/2015* 9:00 pm | at Alaska Anchorage Great Alaska Shootout championship | W 62–58 | 3–1 | Alaska Airlines Center (2,510) Anchorage, AK |
| 12/02/2015* 6:00 pm | at Ole Miss | L 53–59 | 3–2 | Tad Smith Coliseum (906) Oxford, MS |
| 12/05/2015* 2:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | Austin Peay | W 88–69 | 4–2 | E. A. Diddle Arena (609) Bowling Green, KY |
| 12/13/2015* 2:00 pm | at Texas–Arlington | W 73–64 | 5–2 | College Park Center (1,024) Arlington, TX |
| 12/16/2015* 5:30 pm | Eastern Kentucky BB&T Classic | W 76–60 | 6–2 | E. A. Diddle Arena (2,217) Bowling Green, KY |
| 12/18/2015* 5:30 pm | at College of Charleston | W 78–44 | 7–2 | TD Arena (125) Charleston, SC |
| 12/21/2015* 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | at Lipscomb | W 64–56 | 8–2 | Allen Arena (215) Nashville, TN |
| 12/29/2015* 7:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | Belmont | W 80–65 | 9–2 | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,477) Bowling Green, KY |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| 01/02/2016 2:00 pm | Marshall | W 81–52 | 10–2 (1–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,413) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/07/2016 7:00 pm | at FIU | W 71–69 | 11–2 (2–0) | FIU Arena (356) Miami, FL |
| 01/09/2016 2:00 pm | at Florida Atlantic | W 81–62 | 12–2 (3–0) | FAU Arena (469) Boca Raton, FL |
| 01/14/2016 7:00 pm | Rice | W 52–49 | 13–2 (4–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (937) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/16/2016 2:00 pm | North Texas | W 65–53 | 14–2 (5–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,191) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/21/2016 11:00 am, FCS/WKYU | Old Dominion | W 68–51 | 15–2 (6–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (2,814) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/23/2016 2:00 pm | Charlotte | W 77–66 | 16–2 (7–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (817) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/28/2016 7:00 pm | at UAB | W 63–49 | 17–2 (8–0) | Bartow Arena (521) Birmingham, AL |
| 01/30/2016 5:00 pm, FSN | at Middle Tennessee | L 75–83 | 17–3 (8–1) | Murphy Center (5,125) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 02/04/2016 7:00 pm | UTSA | W 72–65 | 18–3 (9–1) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,076) Bowling Green, KY |
| 02/06/2016 2:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | UTEP | L 78–85 | 18–4 (9–2) | E. A. Diddle Arena (2,107) Bowling Green, KY |
| 02/14/2016 12:00 pm, ASN | at Marshall | W 80–76 | 19–4 (10–2) | Cam Henderson Center (472) Huntington, WV |
| 02/18/2016 6:00 pm | at Old Dominion | W 85–74 $^{OT}$ | 20–4 (11–2) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (1,606) Norfolk, VA |
| 02/20/2016 6:00 pm | at Charlotte | L 72–81 | 20–5 (11–3) | Dale F. Halton Arena (1,423) Charlotte, NC |
| 02/25/2016 8:00 pm, FSN | Middle Tennessee | W 62–51 | 21–5 (12–3) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,423) Bowling Green, KY |
| 02/27/2016 2:00 pm, FCS/WKYU | UAB | W 64–55 | 22–5 (13–3) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,851) Bowling Green, KY |
| 03/03/2016 6:00 pm | at Southern Miss | W 54–53 | 23–5 (14–3) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,382) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 03/05/2016 7:00 pm | at Louisiana Tech | W 69–58 | 24–5 (15–3) | Thomas Assembly Center (1,905) Ruston, LA |
| Conference USA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/10/2016 7:30 pm, ASN | vs. Marshall Quarterfinals | L 63–66 | 24–6 | Bartow Arena (499) Birmingham, AL |
| WNIT ||||||
| 03/17/2016* 7:00 pm | Dayton First Round | W 89–72 | 25–6 | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,066) Bowling Green, KY |
| 03/21/2016* 7:00 pm | Tennessee–Martin Second Round | W 64–57 | 26–6 | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,372) Bowling Green, KY |
| 03/25/2016* 7:00 pm | at Saint Louis Third Round | W 78–76 $^{OT}$ | 27–6 | Chaifetz Arena (1,754) St. Louis, MO |
| 03/27/2016* 7:00 pm | at South Dakota Quarterfinals | L 54–68 | 27–7 | DakotaDome (2,749) Vermillion, SD |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |