The Lady Toppers do not need any motivation. They have already made the Sun Belt Conference Tournament after all – now is the fun part.

“The pressure is off of us by winning the last six games,” head coach Jason Neidell said. “We are in the tournament now, and now comes the fun stuff where we can challenge for a top seed.”

Western’s hopes of a number one seed in the conference tournament will depend greatly on their road games this weekend again Denver and North Texas.

Denver leads the conference with a 7-0-1 conference record, while Western stands at 6-0-2. The two teams are the only teams in the SBC without a loss.

Western will have to stop Denver’s Taryn Hemmings, who currently has 32 points this year.

“She is definitely a player we have to stop to win the game,” Neidell said.

Denver coach Jeff Hooker agrees that Hemming is a key player for his team.

“She has a real good engine,” he said. ” She is a very gifted athlete.”

But Hooker did say his team was unbalanced in goal scoring, as Hemmings has four times as many points as anyone else on her team.

Although he has a go-to player in Hemmings, Hooker still said he is praying his team can find a way to get by Western’s defense.

“They have been real impressive and successful,” he said. “Our goal is to try to and challenge the goalkeeper,”

Although it is an important game, Neidell is facing this game just as any other game.

“Why would you change a winning formula?” he said. “We are the team that is undefeated.”

Western faces North Texas on Sunday, who sits right behind them in the conference with a record of 6-1-1.

North Texas is led by Kelsey Pearlman, who has a total of 22 points this year.

The North Texas game is just as important as the Denver game Neidell said, but he is just happy to get a chance to fight for the number one seed.

“Our team is excited,” he said. “We are in a position where this weekend is fun and important.”

Reach Mike Stunson at sports@chherald.com