Career wins: 127.
Sun Belt Conference East Division championships: five.
NCAA Tournament appearances: zero.
Those are the combined totals of the last three seasons for Topper coach Darrin Horn and Lady Topper coach Mary Taylor Cowles.
The last time the Toppers made the NCAA tournament was former coach Dennis Felton’s last season in 2003. Cowles guided the Lady Toppers to an NCAA appearance in the 2002-2003 season, her first on the Hill.
Both teams came within a game of making the NCAA tournament last season, coming up short in the conference tournament championship.
The men lost 95-70 to South Alabama, while the women were stopped short by Middle Tennessee State, 84-73.
“The loss last season is definitely a motivating factor this year,” Horn said. “It’s something we talk about all the time. Hopefully, it will be something we can turn into a positive, and I think we have a team that gives us a great chance of coming out on the other end.”
Since being named head coach before the 2003-04 season, Horn has guided the Toppers to two National Invitation Tournament appearances, going 1-2 in those games. The team’s lone win came at home in an 88-80 victory over Kent State in the NIT first round.
The Toppers lost in the first round of the NIT at South Carolina, 74-55, in March.
Last season was the closest the Lady Toppers have come to the “Big Dance” since 2003.
The season ended on an even more sour note because the Lady Toppers missed the tournament, despite being ranked No. 18 in the Ratings Percentage Index.
“I think it’s a big motivation,” senior center Sarah Shouse said. “Obviously, the new kids coming in have heard us talk about it repeatedly. It’s still in the back of our minds.”
The ranking was the highest by a team left out of the NCAA Tournament since the inclusion of the RPI in the women’s tournament selection process in 1982.
“You know I’d be lying if I said, ‘Oh, we’ve forgotten about that,’” Cowles told the Herald Tuesday. “Nobody will ever forget it, that was a part of last year’s team, what happened to us. It was that frustrating, and it hurt that bad. But at the same time, it is behind us, and this team understands that for those that returned, both players and coaches, that we have a new opportunity.”
The Lady Toppers went on to reach the semifinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, losing at Kansas State, 57-56.
A contributing factor to the Toppers’ recent postseason futility is the time it has taken Horn to fully implement his up-tempo system. It is a style that wasn’t feasible with leftovers from the Felton era, known for its deliberate halfcourt sets.
The Topper players haven’t forgotten how last season ended either, citing the championship game loss as a main source of inspiration this year.
“Of course that’s my biggest motivation, but all of us here want to win big,” junior guard Courtney Lee said. “The NCAA tournament, that’s where we want to get to. We just want to go out there and make a name for ourselves.”
Reach the reporters at sports@wkuherald.com.
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