WKU Athletics
Meral Abdelgawad (40) from Western Kentucky University Lady Toppers shouts “Let’s go! »Following a big match against Charlotte on January 30, 2021.
It has been a great week of basketball at Bowling Green as graduated WKU goalie Camron Justice and senior goalie Meral Abdelgawad were both named the American Conference Players of the Week on Monday for the men’s and women’s programs respectively.
Abdelgawad led the Lady Toppers to two huge return wins on the road. She averaged 26.5 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
In his first game of the week in Miami, Ohio, Abdelgawad racked up 20 points, eight rebounds, three steals and an assist, while shooting an impressive 8-for-15 from the field. She scored 14 of her 20 points in the second half.
The senior goalie completed an equalizer layup with just 28 seconds left, then proceeded to make a pair of free throws to give WKU a two-point lead with 21 seconds remaining. The Lady Toppers went on to win by two over a buzzer-beater from first-year guard Mya Meredith.
Two days after his outstanding performance against Miami, Abdelgawad put on an even better performance at Fairleigh Dickinson. She tied a career-high, scoring 33 points with six rebounds, three assists and one steal. 25 of his points came in the fourth quarter and both overtime periods.
Abdelgawad scored the last five points for the Lady Toppers to give them a four-point victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in double overtime on Friday night.
This is Abdelgawad’s first career C-USA Player of the Week award. She currently leads all of C-USA with 18.2 points per game. The senior is also third at C-USA in rebounds (92) and steals (28).
Justice was named C-USA Male Player of the Week after leading the Hilltoppers to wins over Center College and Louisville. Over the two wins, the graduate student averaged 17.5 points, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals.
In the Hilltoppers’ opener of the week, Justice scored ten points with six assists and three steals against Center within minutes in a resounding 90-52 victory.
Justice put on a show against Louisville on Saturday at the Diddle Arena. Justice led WKU to their first win over Louisville in nine games and their first win over the Cardinals at home. He led all scorers with 25 points left with three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Justice did it all by shooting a remarkable 7 for 12 from the field and 5 for 7 from a three-point field.
This is Justice C-USA’s first player of the week title in his second stint on the Hill after spending last season as a graduate assistant.
The Hilltoppers face Austin Peay on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT. The Lady Toppers’ next game against Belmont on Wednesday has been called off, so their next scheduled game will be their first C-USA game against Southern Mississippi on December 30.
