# 2018–19 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball team

The 2018–19 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Toppers were led by first-year head coach Greg Collins and played their home games at E. A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky as members of Conference USA (C-USA). They finished the season 20–15, 11–5 in C-USA play, to finish in a tie for third place. They advanced to the semifinals of the C-USA women's tournament, where they lost to Rice. They received an at-large bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they defeated Miami (OH) and Morehead State in the first and second rounds, respectively, before losing to Ohio in the third round.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2018* 6:00 p.m. | | West Virginia State | W 104–74 | | E. A. Diddle Arena (854) Bowling Green, KY |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 6, 2018* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | No. 15 Louisville | L 80–102 | 0–1 | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,476) Bowling Green, KY |
| November 9, 2018* 7:00 p.m., FSOK | | at Oklahoma | L 83–90 | 0–2 | Lloyd Noble Center (2,907) Norman, OK |
| November 13, 2018* 6:00 p.m., ESPN3/WKYU | | No. 13 Iowa | L 67–104 | 0–3 | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,301) Bowling Green, KY |
| November 17, 2018* 12:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Central Michigan | L 90–108 | 0–4 | McGuirk Arena (1,696) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| November 20, 2018* 11:00 a.m. | | Southern Illinois | W 83–76 | 1–4 | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,792) Bowling Green, KY |
| November 22, 2018* 10:30 p.m. | | vs. No. 8 Oregon State Vancouver Showcase quarterfinals | L 60–74 | 1–5 | Vancouver Convention Centre (296) Vancouver, BC |
| November 23, 2018* 4:30 p.m. | | vs. East Tennessee State Vancouver Showcase consolation 2nd round | W 82–68 | 2–5 | Vancouver Convention Centre (1,022) Vancouver, BC |
| November 24, 2018* 3:30 p.m. | | vs. Gonzaga Vancouver Showcase 5th-place game | L 55–76 | 2–6 | Vancouver Convention Centre (722) Vancouver, BC |
| November 28, 2018* 6:00 p.m. | | Morgan State | W 90–43 | 3–6 | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,056) Bowling Green, KY |
| December 1, 2018* 5:00 p.m. | | at Little Rock | W 68–56 | 4–6 | Jack Stephens Center (1,777) Little Rock, AR |
| December 8, 2018* 2:00 p.m. | | Bellarmine | W 68–56 | 5–6 | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,204) Bowling Green, KY |
| December 16, 2018* 5:00 p.m., ESPN3/WKYU | | Ball State | L 83–86 | 5–7 | E. A. Diddle Arena (715) Bowling Green, KY |
| December 19, 2018* 6:00 p.m., ACCNE | | at No. 2 Notre Dame | L 53–94 | 5–8 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,502) South Bend, IN |
| December 29, 2018* 7:00 p.m. | | Union (TN) | W 77–65 | 6–8 | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,214) Bowling Green, KY |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| January 3, 2019 6:00 p.m., ESPN3/WKYU | | Charlotte | W 76–58 | 7–8 (1–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (892) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 5, 2019 2:00 p.m. | | Old Dominion | W 75–60 | 8–8 (2–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,236) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 12, 2019 2:00 p.m., ESPN3/WKYU | | Marshall | W 85–55 | 9–8 (3–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,391) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 17, 2019 10:00 a.m., beIN | | at FIU | W 94–82 | 10–8 (4–0) | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (1,383) Miami, FL |
| January 19, 2019 1:00 p.m. | | at Florida Atlantic | W 81–50 | 11–8 (5–0) | FAU Arena (368) Boca Raton, FL |
| January 24, 2019 6:00 p.m. | | Southern Miss | L 56–69 | 11–9 (5–1) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,187) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 26, 2019 2:00 p.m., ESPN3/WKYU | | Louisiana Tech | W 81–76 | 12–9 (6–1) | E. A. Diddle Arena (2,759) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 31, 2019 11:00 a.m. | | at UTSA | W 81–62 | 13–9 (7–1) | Convocation Center (1,200) San Antonio, TX |
| February 2, 2019 2:00 p.m. | | at UTEP | W 64–61 | 14–9 (8–1) | Don Haskins Center (429) El Paso, TX |
| February 7, 2019 6:00 p.m. | | Rice | L 46–68 | 14–10 (8–2) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,347) Bowling Green, KY |
| February 9, 2019 2:00 p.m. | | North Texas | L 67–76 | 14–11 (8–3) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,363) Bowling Green, KY |
| February 14, 2019 6:30 p.m. | | at Middle Tennessee | L 69–81 | 14–12 (8–4) | Murphy Center (3,922) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 16, 2019 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UAB | L 63–70 | 14–13 (8–5) | Bartow Arena (634) Birmingham, AL |
| February 23, 2019 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Marshall | W 69–66 $^{OT}$ | 15–13 (9–5) | Cam Henderson Center (1,182) Huntington, WV |
| March 2, 2019 3:00 p.m. | | at North Texas | W 71–66 | 16–13 (10–5) | The Super Pit (658) Denton, TX |
| March 7, 2019 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Middle Tennessee | W 67–56 | 17–13 (11–5) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,823) Bowling Green, KY |
| Conference USA women's tournament ||||||
| March 14, 2019 11:30 a.m., Stadium | (4) | vs. (5) Old Dominion Quarterfinals | W 74–60 | 18–13 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| March 15, 2019 8:00 p.m., Stadium | (4) | vs. (1) No. 24 Rice Semifinals | L 57–64 | 18–14 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| WNIT ||||||
| March 21, 2019* 6:00 p.m. | | at Miami (OH) First round | W 67–63 | 19–14 | Millett Hall (338) Oxford, OH |
| March 24, 2019* 2:00 p.m. | | Morehead State Second round | W 68–65 | 20–14 | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,206) Bowling Green, KY |
| March 28, 2019* 6:00 p.m. | | at Ohio Third round | L 60–68 | 20–15 | Convocation Center (1,491) Athens, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
Source:

## Rankings

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