1985–86 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball team

Intercollegiate basketball season

1985–86 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball

NCAA East Regional Champion SBC Tournament Champion Sun Belt Conference Champion Communiplex Classic Champion Bud Light Shootout Champion
NCAA Tournament, Final Four
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 5
Record	32–4 (6–0 SBC)
Head coach	Paul Sanderford (4th season)
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons← 1984–85 1986–87 →

1985–86 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 5 WKU †	6	–	0	1.000	32	–	4	.889
Old Dominion	5	–	1	.833	15	–	13	.536
UNC Charlotte	3	–	3	.500	15	–	13	.536
UAB	3	–	3	.500	13	–	16	.448
South Alabama	2	–	4	.333	18	–	11	.621
VCU	2	–	4	.333	14	–	14	.500
South Florida	0	–	6	.000	5	–	22	.185

† 1986 Sun Belt tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985–86 WKU Lady Toppers basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 1985–86 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Toppers were led by head coach Paul Sanderford and Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Lillie Mason. They won the SBC season and tournament championships and received a bid to the 1986 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, where they advanced to the Final Four. This team set a school record for wins and had three players named to All-American teams, Mason, Clemette Haskins, and Kami Thomas. Thomas and Haskins joined Mason on the All-Conference team; Mason was the SBC Tournament Most Outstanding Player (MOP) and Haskins made the All-Tournament team. Haskins was selected to the NCAA Final Four team and Mason was NCAA East Region MOP with Thomas joining her on the All-Region team.

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
11/22/1985*	No. 6	at No. 20* Texas Tech	W 88–71	1–0	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, TX
11/25/1985*	No. 6	South Alabama Bowling Green Bank Invitational	W 86–55	2–0	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
11/26/1985*	No. 6	No. 23* Oklahoma Bowling Green Bank Invitational	L 81–89	2–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/2/1985*	No. 9	No. 15 Iowa	W 77–67	3–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/6/1985*	No. 8	at Southern Illinois	W 92–60	4–1	Banterra Center Carbondale, IL
12/9/1985*	No. 9	Middle Tennessee	W 103–78	5–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/14/1985*	No. 9	at Morehead State	W 85–66	6–1	Ellis Johnson Arena Morehead, KY
12/21/1985*	No. 9	at Evansville	W 96–66	7–1	Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, IN
12/28/1985*	No. 9	vs. Xavier Communiplex Classic	W 122–43	8–1	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH
12/29/1985*	No. 9	at Cincinnati Communiplex Classic	W 87–43	9–1	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH
1/3/1986*	No. 9	vs. Kansas State Bud Light Shootout	W 95–69	10–1	Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, NV
1/4/1986*	No. 9	vs. California Bud Light Shootout	W 81–59	11–1	Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, NV
1/7/1986*	No. 7	West Virginia	W 95–49	12–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/10/1986*	No. 7	Dayton	W 104–75	13–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/12/1986	No. 6	South Florida	W 94–48	14–1 (1–0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/14/1986	No. 6	Memphis State	W 95–71	15–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/16/1986*	No. 6	at Louisville	W 98–55	16–1	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
1/22/1986	No. 6	UNC Charlotte	W 85–51	17–1 (2–0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/27/1986*	No. 6	Alabama–Huntsville	W 108–55	18–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/30/1986*	No. 6	Tennessee Tech	W 83–79	19–1	Eblen Center Cookeville, TN
2/4/1986*	No. 5	Murray State	W 93–69	20–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/7/1986*	No. 5	Cheyney State	W 101–52	21–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/10/1986*	No. 4	at No. 2 Georgia	L 61–93	21–2	Stegeman Coliseum Athens, GA
2/15/1986	No. 4	at UAB	W 83–63	22–2 (3–0)	BJCC Coliseum Birmingham, AL
2/17/1986	No. 6	at South Alabama	W 72–66	23–2 (4–0)	Jag Gym Mobile, AL
2/23/1986	No. 5	Old Dominion	W 74–64	24–2 (5–0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/24/1986	No. 5	VCU	W 101–51	25–2 (6–0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/28/1986*	No. 5	at Alaska Anchorage Northern Lights Invitational	W 98–78	26–2	Anchorage, AK
3/1/1986*	No. 5	vs. No. 16* Louisiana–Monroe Northern Lights Invitational	L 84–88	26–3	Anchorage, AK
3/2/1986*	No. 5	vs. SMU Northern Lights Invitational	W 76–66	27–3	Anchorage, AK
Sun Belt tournament
3/7/1986	(1) No. 5	(4) UAB Semifinals	W 80–53	28–3	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
3/8/1986	(1) No. 5	(2) Old Dominion Championship	W 69–61	29–3	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
NCAA tournament
3/16/1986*	(E4) No. 5	(E5) No. 24* Saint Joseph's (PA) East Region Second Round	W 74–65	30–3	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
3/20/1986*	(E4) No. 5	vs. (E8) No. 17 James Madison Sweet Sixteen	W 72–51	31–3	Palestra Philadelphia, PA
3/22/1986*	(E4) No. 5	vs. (E2) No. 10 Rutgers Elite Eight	W 89–74	32–3	Palestra Philadelphia, PA
3/28/1986*	(E4) No. 5	vs. (MW1) No. 1 Texas Final Four	L 65–90	32–4	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
Non-conference game. Rankings from AP Poll. USA Today rankings. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

v t e Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball
Venues	E. A. Diddle Arena (1973–present)
Culture & lore	Big Red
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

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