Ken McDonald came into his first season as Western’s head coach insisting that the players compete with a chip on their shoulders.
A year later, after a second consecutive Sun Belt Conference Championship and trip to the NCAA tournament, the message has changed.
Now, the Toppers will play with a target on their backs.
“There’s going to be [...]

Head Coach Ken McDonald said this year’s Western basketball team has the potential to go places.
Without playing a regular-season game, it already has.
The Toppers’ 12-man roster represents nine different states as well as Canada and Montenegro. Junior forward Sergio Kerusch said those vastly different backgrounds haven’t stopped the team from becoming a tightly-knit bunch heading [...]

Senior Dominique Duck looks for a pass during Sunday’s exhibition game. Western defeated Brescia 105-48. MORGAN WALKER/HERALD

Senior forward Dominique Duck never expected to spend most of last season watching the Lady Toppers from the sideline.
But that’s exactly what happened when she took a medical redshirt nine games into the season after realizing that her knee [...]

Head Coach Mary Taylor Cowles didn’t hesitate to describe the offseason after being ousted in the first round of last season’s Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
“Miserable,” Cowles said. “I’ve never experienced that.”
Last season marked the first time the Lady Toppers have missed postseason play during Cowles’ 10-year tenure.
The current squad is ready to leave last season’s [...]

A.J. Slaughter goes up for a lay-up in an exhibition game on Tuesday night in E.A. Diddle Arena. Slaughter contributed to the Hilltoppers 90-37 win with 15 points and 2 rebounds. BRENDAN SULLIVAN/HERALD

Senior guard A.J. Slaughter didn’t use words to set off the 2009-2010 season on a high note.
The fourth-year player out of Shelbyville held [...]

When Head Coach Ken McDonald visited freshman forward Will Green‘s home in Orlando, Fla. to convince the four-year high school starter to come to Western, McDonald told Green he wanted to stay with the program as long as possible.
Green eventually committed and said he believed the first-year coach of the Toppers.
“He seemed sincere, like that [...]

Senior Arnika Brown intercepts a pass from a Brescia University player during Sunday’s exhibition game. Western defeated Brescia 105-48. MORGAN WALKER/HERALD

The Lady Toppers had little trouble pinpointing senior forward Arnika Brown as the team’s emotional leader this season.
“She’s very vocal,” senior guard Kenzie Rich said of Brown. “She gets a little and-one play, and she [...]

Junior forward, Steffphon Pettigrew, takes a jump shot in the second half of the Western vs. Xavier University of Louisiana exhibition game on Tuesday night in E.A. Diddle Arena. Pettigrew contributed to the Hilltoppers 90-37 win with 6 points and 8 rebounds. BRENDAN SULLIVAN/HERALD

Improvement may be the best word to describe junior forward Steffphon Pettigrew’s [...]

Senior guard Kenzie Rich dribbles past Brescia guard Hollie Anson during Sunday’s exhibition game. Western defeated Brescia 105-48. MORGAN WALKER/HERALD

Senior guard Kenzie Rich said she doubts she could be the noisiest person on the court if she tried.
“I can’t get really loud, to be honest,” she said, laughing. “I just cannot scream really, really loud.”
But [...]

Everyone is picking Western to win the Sun Belt Conference this season. We all know that.
It’s a one-bid conference that has three to four teams that could be contenders in the conference tournament this season.
But everyone is assuming that the Toppers will take it, so let’s look to the nearer future.
On Nov. 16, Western [...]