Western Kentucky freshman guard Alexis Mead shoots a layup over West Virginia State freshman forward Emyah Fortenberry in the Lady Toppers' 112-72 win over the Yellow Jackets at E.A. Diddle Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021. (Grace Ramey/photo@bgdailynews.com)

The Western Kentucky women’s basketball team will look to turn things around after finishing with a 7-16 record last season.

And they’re looking to do it fast.

The Lady Toppers are bringing in an up-tempo style with a mix of new and returning players into the 2021-22 season, which opens Wednesday with a 6:30 p.m. game against Purdue at E.A. Diddle Arena.

“The energy’s high every day in practice,” WKU fourth-year head coach Greg Collins said at the team’s media day. “I don’t think there’s been a week that’s gone by that we haven’t got better each and every week, and we still have a long way to go, but I like where we are, I like how hard they work, I like their chemistry, I like their commitment.

“There’s not a day that I don’t walk into the office and somebody is already in the gym shooting, there’s hardly a day that I don’t have somebody walk by and say, ‘Coach, I saw so and so in the gym,’ and it was the night before – so I know they’re hungry, I know they’re working hard and that’ll pay dividends.”

Last season started with several questions – first and foremost, how would the season look amid the COVID-19 pandemic? For WKU specifically, there were questions about which players would be available. Sherry Porter, a veteran guard who was expected to be a major contributor, elected not to play amid the pandemic, and the timing of the return of all-conference forward Raneem Elgedawy from Egypt was uncertain at the start of the year.

This season, WKU knows who it will have available at season’s start. It’s a group that includes returning starters in Hope Sivori and Meral Abdelgawad, as well as returners in Tori Hunter, Jordan Smith and Selma Kulo. The Lady Toppers added guards in Alexis Mead, Mya Meredith, Teresa Faustino, Macey Blevins and Jenna Walker, as well as forwards Gabby McBride and Jaylin Foster. Collins said he wanted to build a team that had “more skilled players on the floor at one time,” and that all will see action.

“I can tell you we have 12 players and 12 players will play,” Collins said.

That’s in part because of the up-tempo style the Lady Toppers have introduced this season. WKU averaged 63.9 points last season and 74.1 the season prior, and Collins promised “we’ll be closer to the previous year than last year.”

“Just step-by-step building this thing, really getting them to buy in and understand how we will play and how we will win as a team,” Collins said. “It’s as close to 100% buy in as maybe any team that I’ve coached, so that’s exciting.”

The Lady Toppers showed it off for the first time a week before their regular-season opener, when they dropped 112 points in a 40-point exhibition win over West Virginia State.

“I think this year is so different. The chemistry is so good this year,” Abdelgawad said at media day. “We’re playing so good with each other, we’re playing hard every day, every practice, so I think this year’s going to be different from last year.”

WKU jumps into the fire with its opener against Purdue before traveling to Manhattan, Kan., for the Preseason WNIT, where it will face North Carolina A&T, Kansas State and UT Martin. Its nonconference schedule also includes Kentucky State, Indiana State, Tennessee State, Bellarmine, Tennessee Tech, Miami-Ohio, Fairleigh Dickinson and Belmont.

“We may not be the most polished team when we start our season, but I think you’re going to see a lot of energy, a lot of excitement and we will get there,” Collins said. “We’ll get to that polished, finished product.”

The Lady Toppers open conference play by hosting Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech on Dec. 30 and Jan. 1, respectively. The league is moving back to primarily playing Thursday and Saturday games after playing back-to-back days against the same opponent last season.

The Lady Toppers finished last in the East Division last year with a 6-10 mark in conference play. The 7-16 overall record was the first time WKU didn’t finish with a winning record since going 9-21 in 2011-12.

There was no runaway favorite in C-USA this season. In the preseason poll, Charlotte was picked first with six first-place votes, with Old Dominion right behind also receiving six first-place votes. Middle Tennessee received two first-place votes and was tied for third with North Texas and UTEP. WKU was picked to finish 12th of the 14 schools.

“There’s a lot of rosters that have changed significantly. I think what we see early in the nonconference might be different than what we see (by) the time January, February, March rolls around,” Collins said at media day. “My focus is be ready next Wednesday, then the following Wednesday when we’re getting ready to play Purdue, then we get on the road. We’ll be there in January.”{&end}