Muncie, Ind. - On three different occasions Monday night, the Western Kentucky University women's basketball team held a lead of seven points or more at Ball State. Each time the Cardinals fought back, but in the end the Lady Toppers were able to come up with big plays late and pick up a 61-58 win at Worthen Arena.

The win moved the Lady Toppers to 2-0 on the year, while Ball State dropped to 0-2.

"We had to find ways all night, and I'm really proud of this basketball team for doing that," said Lady Topper head coach Mary Taylor Cowles. "We did some things in the second half that just showed our desire to want to win this game."

After finding themselves tied 32-32 at halftime, WKU came out with seven unanswered point in the second half to open up a 39-32 lead on a three-point play by Arnika Brown just a minute into the period. The lead grew as high as eight points on another Brown layup at the 17:05 mark, but Ball State came back with eight unanswered to tie the game at 43-43 on a Danielle Gratton jumper with 13 minutes remaining.

After falling down by two points, the Lady Toppers used a 13-4 run to again open up a seven-point lead when a Courtney Clifton three made it 56-49 with 5:26 remaining. A Emily Maggert three started a 7-0 Cardinal run as Ball State tied the game on a pair of Audrey McDonald free throws with 3:47 to go.

Kenzie Rich answered with a three on the other end to again put WKU in front, but a pair of Maggert free throws with 1:24 to go cut the WKU lead to 59-58.

After a turnover, the Lady Toppers were able to get a stop as Rich was fouled with nine seconds remaining. She missed the front end of the one-and-one, but a Brown rebound kept the ball alive and Rich went back to the line, knocking down a pair of free throws with five seconds left to push the lead to three. Ball State's last-second three fell short as the Lady Toppers celebrated the three-point win.

The Lady Toppers hit four of their first five shots in the game to jump out to an early lead, but were unable to pull away as Ball State kept the deficit between two and four points for most of the period. The Cardinals regained a two-point lead when a three by Maggert made it a 20-18 game with 8:45 to go before intermission. Maggert finished with 15 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Rich answered with a three of her own to put WKU back in front as the Lady Toppers were able to use a 14-5 run to pull out to a 32-25 lead on a Hope Brown three with 5:31 to go before intermission.

WKU went cold the remainder of the half, however, letting BSU score seven unanswered points the rest of the way as another Maggert three tied the game up at 32-32 going into the locker room at intermission.

After shooting better than 50 percent for most of the first half, the Lady Toppers cooled off down the stretch, finishing the period at 40.6 percent. Ball State took advantage of its outside shooting as five of 12 field goals came from behind the three-point arc. The Cardinals also controlled the glass, holding a 23-14 rebounding advantage at halftime.

The rebounding numbers turned around in the second half as WKU ended up winning the battle of the boards 43-41 -getting 16 offensive rebounds in the second half.

Arnika Brown pulled down 15 of those rebounds, finishing with a double-double with 13 points as well. McNear finished with 12 and Rich added 11. McNear also finished with a game-high nine assists. LaTeira Owens was also big on the glass, pulling down five rebounds off the bench - four on the offensive end.

Maggert paced Ball State with a game-high 22 points, while McDonald added 11.

The Lady Toppers continue their four-game roadswing on Sunday, visiting South Dakota State for a 2 p.m. (CST) tipoff in Brookings, S.D.