Home sweet home

After a grueling four-game road trip, the Western Kentucky women’s basketball team returns to E.A. Diddle Arena for the first time this calendar year when it hosts Sun Belt Conference newcomer Troy at 7 p.m. today.

Western (11-5, 1-2 Sun Belt Conference) will be playing its first game at home in 22 days and only the second game at Diddle in a month.

&#8220I’m really excited to be back home,” freshman forward Dominique Duck said. &#8220It was a long road stretch. We did some things good, but it is hard to play on the road.”

Returning to Diddle may well be the cure for Western’s recent woes. The Lady Toppers went 1-3 on the road, including a 76-62 loss Saturday at Arkansas State. In that loss, Western shot a season-low 33.3 percent from the field.

Looking back at the loss, WKU coach Mary Taylor Cowles said she wasn’t disappointed with the effort on the offensive end, but was concerned with how it carried over to the defensive end.

&#8220You can’t let your offense affect your defense,” Cowles said. &#8220We didn’t do that Saturday night. I hope we mature on the basketball court and understand that when we have nights as poor as we had at Arkansas State, then we’ve got to get it done on the defensive end even more so.

&#8220I thought Saturday we saw some offensive frustration carry over defensively. We’ve got to get through that because we are probably going to have more nights when the ball doesn’t quite go into the hole. As good as we are, we can find a way to score enough points to win, but not when we play poorly at the defensive end.”

Western will need a solid defensive effort to stop Troy, who enters tonight’s game at 7-7, 1-2 in the conference.

The Trojans feature a strong backcourt tandem in junior Laura Lee Hulman (14.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and sophomore Amy Lewis (11.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg).

&#8220I see really nice leadership in the Hulman kid,” Cowles said. &#8220She is an unbelievable shooter from the perimeter and just seems to bring a nice presence of leadership to her basketball team.

&#8220(Lewis) also has proven herself. She is not the least bit shy. Sometimes you don’t know how your sophomores are going to react, but she’s stepped out on the court and has really joined Hulman in trying to do good things on the perimeter.”

The Trojans have a pair of experienced post players, led by senior forward Alecia Jones (10.4 ppg, 7.9 rpg).

&#8220Alecia has had great games for us,” Troy coach Michael Murphy said. &#8220As the only senior, she has taken advantage of the opportunity she’s had.”

Still, Murphy is concerned with how his team will be able to find an answer for sophomore forward Crystal Kelly, who has now eclipsed the 900-point career scoring mark faster than any other Lady Topper after a 25-point effort at Arkansas State.

&#8220Kelly is a very good player – an SEC-caliber player,” Murphy said. &#8220The only thing you can do is contain her and not let her have a career night against you.”

Murphy’s other concern will be how his team reacts in its first visit to Diddle Arena. The road was tough for Troy, 0-5 away from home.

&#8220I think anytime anybody plays on the road it is tough,” Murphy said. &#8220Look what has happened to Western, and they are the class of the league. Playing on the road is not easy, particularly in the Sun Belt. We are going to have to play very well to be competitive.”