2016–17 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball team

The 2016–17 WKU Lady Toppers basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Toppers, led by fourth year head coach Michelle Clark-Heard, played their home games at E. A. Diddle Arena and were third year members of Conference USA. They finished the season 27–8, 16–2 in C-USA play to win the Conference USA regular season and also won the Conference USA Tournament. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA women's basketball tournament, where they were defeated by Ohio State in the first round.

2016–17 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball
C-USA regular season and tournament champions
NCAA Tournament, first round
Conference	Conference USA
Record	27–8 (16–2 C-USA)
Head coach	Michelle Clark-Heard (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Greg Collins Melissa Kolbe Brittany Parker
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons ← 2015–16 2017–18 →

2016–17 Conference USA women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
WKU †	16	–	2		.889			27	–	8		.771
Middle Tennessee	15	–	3		.833			23	–	11		.676
Southern Miss	13	–	5		.722			23	–	11		.676
Charlotte	12	–	6		.667			21	–	10		.677
Louisiana Tech	12	–	6		.667			18	–	14		.563
Old Dominion	11	–	7		.611			17	–	14		.548
UTSA	10	–	8		.556			14	–	17		.452
Rice	8	–	10		.444			22	–	13		.629
UAB	8	–	10		.444			15	–	15		.500
North Texas	8	–	10		.444			12	–	19		.387
Marshall	5	–	13		.278			13	–	17		.433
UTEP	5	–	13		.278			8	–	23		.258
FIU	3	–	15		.167			5	–	24		.172
Florida Atlantic	0	–	18		.000			4	–	25		.138
† 2017 C-USA Tournament winner As of March 26, 2017 Rankings from AP poll

Roster

2016–17 WKU Lady Toppers women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Naomi Mayes 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) RS So Joliet JC Crest Hill, IL G 3 Sidnee Bopp 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) So Marmaduke HS Marmaduke, AR F 4 Dee Givens 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Lafayette HS Lexington, KY G 5 Micah Jones 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) RS Sr Green County HS Greensburg, KY F 10 Tashia Brown 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Lowndes HS Lake Park, GA G 12 Kendall Noble 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) RS Sr Perry County Central HS Hazard, KY G 13 Malaka Frank 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Franklin County HS Frankfort, KY G 15 Whitney Creech 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr Jenkins HS Jenkins, KY G 20 Ima Akpan 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Sr Hamilton Christian Academy Kilgore College Calabar, Nigeria G 21 Sarah Price 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Bath County HS Owingsville, KY 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) RS So Jackson County HS Kentucky Gainesboro, TN F 25 Kyvin Goodin-Rogers 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS Jr Marion County Kentucky Lebanon, KY G/F 32 Kayla Smith 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Fayette County HS Fayetteville, GA C Raneem Elgedawy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Fr None Alexandria, Egypt	Head coach Michelle Clark-Heard (Western Kentucky) Assistant coach(es) Greg Collins (Louisville) Melissa Kolbe (Wittenberg) Brittany Parker (Fayetteville State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

^[1]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/03/2016* 7:00 pm		Young Harris	W 98–51		E. A. Diddle Arena (811) Bowling Green, KY
Non-conference regular season
11/11/2016* 7:00 pm		Alabama A&M	W 96–32	1–0	E. A. Diddle Arena (1,138) Bowling Green, KY
11/16/2016* 5:30 pm, FCS/WKYU		Texas–Arlington	L 68–71	1–1	E. A. Diddle Arena (1,712) Bowling Green, KY
11/19/2016* 2:00 pm, FCS/WKYU		No. 23 Indiana	W 85–74	2–1	E. A. Diddle Arena (1,832) Bowling Green, KY
11/25/2016* 12:30 pm		vs. No. 18 DePaul Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals	L 69–77	2–2	Germain Arena  Estero, FL
11/26/2016* 10:00 am		vs. Kent State Gulf Coast Showcase consolation 2nd round	W 79–73 OT	3–2	Germain Arena  Estero, FL
11/27/2016* 12:30 pm		vs. George Washington Gulf Coast Showcase 5th place game	L 49–68	3–3	Germain Arena  Estero, FL
11/30/2016* 4:30 pm, FCS/WKYU		at Eastern Kentucky	W 90–63	4–3	McBrayer Arena  Richmond, KY
12/03/2016* 12:30 pm		at Austin Peay	W 85–65	5–3	Dunn Center (1,165) Clarksville, TN
12/11/2016* 1:00 pm, ACCN Extra		at No. 8 Louisville	L 61–68	5–4	KFC Yum! Center (9,168) Louisville, KY
12/15/2016* 7:00 pm		Lipscomb	W 87–35	6–4	E. A. Diddle Arena (1,120) Bowling Green, KY
12/18/2016* 2:00 pm		College of Charleston	W 89–76	7–4	E. A. Diddle Arena (1,051) Bowling Green, KY
12/21/2016* 5:30 pm, FCS/WKYU		Ball State	W 68–61	8–4	E. A. Diddle Arena (1,759) Bowling Green, KY
Conference USA regular season
12/30/2016 7:00 pm		Florida Atlantic	W 76–55	9–4 (1–0)	E. A. Diddle Arena (1,324) Bowling Green, KY
01/01/2017 2:00 pm		FIU	W 90–38	10–4 (2–0)	E. A. Diddle Arena (1,033) Bowling Green, KY
01/05/2017 10:30 am		at Charlotte	L 85–89 OT	10–5 (2–1)	Dale F. Halton Arena (4,518) Charlotte, NC
01/07/2017 3:00 pm, ESPN3		at Old Dominion	W 67–62	11–5 (3–1)	Ted Constant Convocation Center (1,290) Norfolk, VA
01/12/2017 11:00 am		UAB	W 60–48	12–5 (4–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,215) Bowling Green, KY
01/15/2017 2:00 pm, FCS/WKYU		Middle Tennessee	W 66–51	13–5 (5–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (2,064) Bowling Green, KY
01/21/2017 2:00 pm		Marshall	W 73–57	14–5 (6–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (1,756) Bowling Green, KY
01/26/2017 8:05 pm, beIN		at UTEP	W 71–54	15–5 (7–1)	Don Haskins Center (2,469) El Paso, TX
01/28/2017 2:00 pm		at UTSA	L 77–80	15–6 (7–2)	Convocation Center (359) San Antonio, TX
02/02/2017 7:00 pm		Louisiana Tech	W 67–58	16–6 (8–2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (1,127) Bowling Green, KY
02/04/2017 7:00 pm		Southern Miss	W 79–53	17–6 (9–2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (1,668) Bowling Green, KY
02/11/2017 12:00 pm		at Marshall	W 78–64	18–6 (10–2)	Cam Henderson Center (717) Huntington, WV
02/16/2017 6:30 pm, beIN		at Middle Tennessee	W 82–75	19–6 (11–2)	Murphy Center (4,027) Murfreesboro, TN
02/18/2017 2:00 pm		at UAB	W 62–52	20–6 (12–2)	Bartow Arena (399) Birmingham, AL
02/23/2017 7:00 pm		Charlotte	W 75–74	21–6 (13–2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (1,344) Bowling Green, KY
02/25/2017 2:00 pm		Old Dominion	W 79–73	22–6 (14–2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (2,217) Bowling Green, KY
03/02/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at North Texas	W 75–55	23–6 (15–2)	The Super Pit (1,037) Denton, TX
03/04/2017 2:00 pm		at Rice	W 80–75	24–6 (16–2)	Tudor Fieldhouse (829) Houston, TX
Conference USA Women's Tournament
03/09/2017 1:30 pm		vs. North Texas Quarterfinals	W 78–51	25–6	Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
03/10/2017 4:30 pm, ASN		vs. Louisiana Tech Semifinals	W 77–53	26–6	Legacy Arena  Birmingham, AL
03/11/2017 4:30 pm, CBSSN		vs. Southern Miss Championship	W 67–56	27–6	Legacy Arena  Birmingham, AL
NCAA Women's Tournament
03/17/2017* 4:30 pm, ESPN2	(12 L)	vs. (5 L) No. 11 Ohio State First Round	L 63–70	27–7	Memorial Coliseum (3,557) Lexington, KY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. L=Lexington Region. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2016–17 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	NR	NR	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	RV	N/A
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

Legend

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

See also

2016–17 WKU Hilltoppers basketball team