2015–16 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball team

2015–16 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball
Great Alaska Shootout Champions
WNIT, Quarterfinals
ConferenceConference USA
Record27–7 (15–3 C-USA)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Greg Collins
  • Melissa Kolbe
  • Katherine Graham
Home arenaE. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons
2015–16 Conference USA women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
UTEP 16 – 2   .889 29 – 5   .853
WKU 15 – 3   .833 27 – 7   .794
Middle Tennessee † 15 – 3   .833 24 – 9   .727
Charlotte 12 – 6   .667 19 – 12   .613
Old Dominion 10 – 8   .556 17 – 17   .500
Marshall 9 – 9   .500 21 – 12   .636
Louisiana Tech 9 – 9   .500 14 – 16   .467
UAB 7 – 11   .389 15 – 16   .484
Southern Miss 7 – 11   .389 14 – 16   .467
Rice 7 – 11   .389 9 – 22   .290
Florida Atlantic 6 – 12   .333 14 – 16   .467
UTSA 6 – 12   .333 10 – 19   .345
North Texas 5 – 13   .278 11 – 19   .367
FIU 2 – 16   .111 5 – 26   .161
† 2016 C-USA Tournament winner
As of March 28, 2016
Rankings from AP poll

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.

Roster

2015–16 WKU Lady Toppers women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
F 00 Simone Goods 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Benson HS Omaha, NE
F 1 Kayla Styles 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr duPont Manual HS
Spalding 		Louisville, KY
F 2 Taylor Brown 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Eastside HS Paterson, NJ
G 3 Sidnee Bopp 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Fr Marmaduke HS Marmaduke, AR
G 5 Micah Jones 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sr Green County HS Greensburg, KY
F 10 Tashia Brown 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Lowndes HS Lake Park, GA
G 12 Kendall Noble 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) RS Jr Perry County Central HS Hazard, KY
G 20 Ima Akpan 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Jr Hamilton Christian Academy
Kilgore College 		Calabar, Nigeria
F 23 Ivy Brown 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So LaRue County HS Hodgenville. KY
G 24 Jaycee Coe 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Jackson County HS
Kentucky 		Gainesboro, TN
G/F 32 Kayla Smith 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Fayette County HS Fayetteville, GA
F 33 Jalynn McClain 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Jefferson HS Jeffersonville, IN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

[1]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# 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

Main article: 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Regular Season Polls
Poll Pre-
Season		 Week
2		 Week
3		 Week
4		 Week
5		 Week
6		 Week
7		 Week
8		 Week
9		 Week
10		 Week
11		 Week
12		 Week
13		 Week
14		 Week
15		 Week
16		 Week
17		 Week
18		 Week
19		 Final
AP RV RV RV RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR N/A
Coaches NR NR RV RV NR NR NR NR NR NR RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV
Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
(RV)   Received Votes

See also

2015–16 WKU Hilltoppers basketball team

References

  1. ^ "Women's Basketball - Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers Official Athletic SiteWestern Kentucky University Hilltoppers Official Athletic Site". Archived from the original on September 9, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2016.