BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU women’s basketball sophomore guard Acacia Hayes has been named the Conference USA Player of the Week the league announced on Tuesday afternoon.

Through three games last week, Hayes averaged 20.7 points per game and shot 47.4 percent (9-19) from 3-point range, 86.4 percent (19-22) from the free throw line and 41.5 percent (17-41) from the field.

The Murfreesboro, Tennessee native started out the week with a 19-point, 4-assist and 2-steal performance in a win against Abilene Christian. She put up 20 points and three rebounds and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line in a win against Nevada in the Lady Bear Classic in Springfield, Missouri. She then followed up with 23 points against the host school Missouri State. Hayes scored 13 of her 23 points in that game in the fourth quarter when the Lady Toppers overcame a 15-point deficit with 5:03 left in the game to draw within one at the final buzzer.

Hayes has had an impressive sophomore season so far. She’s CUSA’s leading scorer, averaging 17.1 points per game and her 240 total points for the season lead the league and is the 25th most in the country. She has made 63 free throws this season, which is the 11th most of any player in the nation.

This is Hayes’ first conference Player of the Week honor. She was named CUSA Freshman of the Week twice last season.

Hayes and the Lady Toppers will be back in action against West Virginia State on Friday, Dec. 29 to close out non-conference play. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. in E.A. Diddle Arena.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football defensive back Upton Stout will return to the Hilltoppers, Stout announced Friday.

The redshirt junior from Houston has been one of the most productive players for the Hilltoppers in each of his two seasons with the program and was one of the most sought-after players in the country after entering the transfer portal, but he has elected to remain at WKU.

“Excited to return to WKU for the 2024 season,” Stout said. “I believe special things are ahead for this team and our defense and I can’t wait to be part of it. Let’s run it back.”

Despite missing five full games and a part of another in 2023 due to injury, Stout still put up impressive numbers. The hard-hitting defensive back posted 29 tackles, with 1.5 for loss and 0.5 sacks, an interception he returned 53 yards for a touchdown, eight pass breakups, five quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery he returned 16 yards for a touchdown.

Stout made an instant impact as a redshirt freshman in his first season at WKU after transferring from North Texas. He started 11 games and played in all 14 during the 2022 season and recorded his first defensive touchdown in his first game with the Hilltoppers – a 34-yard pick-six. He finished the 2022 season with four interceptions and 44 tackles, and earned Freshman All-American Honorable Mention honors from CFN while also being named Conference USA Honorable Mention.

Stout has been a key piece in an explosive Hilltopper defense the past two seasons. In 2022, WKU forced 32 turnovers and scored six defensive touchdowns – marks that were both tied for first in the nation. As of Friday, WKU is third nationally in 2023 in turnovers gained with 26 and tied for 15th in defensive scores with three – two of which were scored by Stout.

WKU finished the 2023 season with an 8-5 record after a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Old Dominion, 38-35, in the Famous Toastery Bowl on Monday at Jerry Richardson Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina – the program’s third straight bowl win and fourth in five seasons under Head Coach Tyson Helton.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — WKU women’s basketball (8-6) made a late push against Missouri State (6-3), coming back from a 10-point deficit with three minutes left in the game but were unable to complete the comeback, falling 69-68.

Acacia Hayes had her second straight 20-point game, finishing with 23 on 7-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. It was her fourth 20-point game of the season. Destiny Salary scored 17 points. Karris Allen led the team on the boards, pulling down seven rebounds.

Missouri State scored the first points of the game, but WKU used a 7-0 run to build an early lead. The Lady Bears converted one of two free throws to stop the run. From there, WKU outscored Missouri State 8-6 to take a 15-9 lead into the second quarter.

The Lady Bears opened the second quarter on a 12-0 run to retake the lead, 21-15. Destiny Salary knocked down a jumper to spark an 8-1 scoring run for WKU to retake a 1-point lead with 5:02 left in the quarter. Missouri State responded with a 9-0 run of their own. Josie Gilvin scored her first points of the game with 1:14 left and that would be the final points of the quarter. Missouri State took a 31-25 lead into halftime.

Missouri State went to the foul line 14 times in the first half, with 11 of their 31 points coming from the charity stripe. On the flip side, WKU took just five free throws in the first half.

Odeth Betancourt made back-to-back jumpers to open the third quarter, getting WKU back within two. Missouri State scored the next five points and outscored WKU 11-2 over the next five minutes to go back ahead by 11. A three from Alexis Mead got the Lady Toppers back within single digits, but the Lady Bears went back ahead by 10 after a pair of free throws. Missouri State went into the fourth quarter ahead 37-46.

The Lady Toppers had their best offensive quarter in the fourth, scoring 31. The lead hovered around 10 for most of the quarter, but the Lady Toppers made their comeback attempt starting at the 3:00 minute mark. An and-one from Hayes cut it to seven. After a pair of free throws from Missouri State, Salary knocked down a three with 1:52 to cut it to six. The Lady Bears converted another pair of free throws, but Salary repeated with another three to cut it to five with 1:09 left. Another WKU three, this time from Hayes, cut it to four after a layup from Missouri State. With 20 seconds left, Allen made a three to cut the score to two with 20 seconds remaining. On the last possession, Hayes was fouled on a 3-point shot with 0.09 seconds left. Hayes made the first two foul shots and attempted to miss the second but converted on the opportunity.

WKU will be back in action on Friday, Dec. 29 against West Virginia State at 6:30 p.m. in E.A. Diddle Arena in the non-conference finale for the Lady Toppers.

SCORE

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Hilltopper Basketball junior guard Don McHenry was named Conference USA Player of the Week, as announced by the conference on Monday. McHenry is coming off a week that saw the native of Milwaukee post back-to-back team-high point totals in wins over Wright State and Austin Peay and help WKU improve to 9-3 on the season.

McHenry earns the recognition after finishing Tuesday’s road game against Wright State with a career-best 30 points in a 91-84 win over the Raiders. The junior also tallied three rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal. Saturday saw McHenry follow up the performance with 16 points, a game-high six rebounds, three assists and a steal as WKU knocked off Austin Peay, 65-64, and earned its ninth win of the year.

McHenry’s layup with 2:27 remaining in the game against the Governors served as the game-deciding basket before the Tops leaned on defense to secure the win.

The 2023-24 CUSA Players of the Week awards are presented by Blenders Eyewear and are voted on by the league’s sports information directors.

2023-24 CUSA Players of the Week
Nov. 13    Kyle Rode, Liberty
Nov. 20    Kyle Rode, Liberty
Nov. 27    Lamar Wilkerson, Sam Houston
Dec. 4      Arturo Dean, FIU
Dec. 11    Elias King, MTSU
Dec. 18    Don McHenry, WKU

2023-24 CUSA Freshmen of the Week
Nov. 13    Elijah Jones, UTEP
Nov. 20    Ellijah Jones, UTEP
Nov. 27    Elijah Jones, UTEP
Dec. 4      Chris Loofe, MTSU
Dec. 11    Chris Loofe, MTSU
Dec. 18    Ben Southerland, Liberty

WKU returns to road play this week and travels to face Cal Baptist on Tuesday, Dec. 19. Tipoff is slated for 9 p.m. CT with ESPN+ set to broadcast the event.

Week one of Friday Night Hoops is in the books!

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