RICHMOND, Ky. – Shavonne Jones recorded a double-double, Crystal Jones scored a game-high 17 points and Ilona Muszak made three of her four second half three-point attempts as the Eastern Kentucky women’s basketball team defeated Australia’s Showtime Skins, 84-56, in Thursday’s exhibition game at McBrayer Arena. Over a quarter of EKU’s shots came from beyond the three-point line and the Lady Colonels shot 44 percent from inside the arc. The Skins committed 31 turnovers.
Shavonne Jones finished with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. She made six of her 10 free throw attempts and grabbed 12 rebounds in 19 minutes of action. Crystal Jones went 6-for-12 from the field and added four assists and four steals to her game-high 17 points. Muszak made only one of her four three-point attempts in the first half, but connected on 3-of-4 from deep in the second stanza to finish with 12 points.
Abby Schrader led Showtime with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Brianna Manuatu came off the bench to score 11 points as well.
Eastern Kentucky pushed a 12-point halftime lead to 18 points with an 8-2 run in the opening three and a half minutes of the second half. Ashley Cazee scored four of EKU’s first six points. Her two free throws made it 43-27. Crystal Jones hit the front end of two free throw attempts with 16:44 left to give the home team an a 18-point advantage, 45-27.
Showtime cut the deficit to 12 twice, once on a three-pointer by Klara Wischer with 14:22 to go and again on a lay-up by Abby Schrader with 10:53 showing on the clock. EKU answered Schrader’s lay-up with threes by Muszak and Niki Avery on back-to-back possessions to go back in front by 18, 59-41, with 9:57 to play.
Another Muszak trey made a 20-point game, 63-43. A pair of free throws by Avery stretched the lead to 24, 67-43, with 7:46 to go. Muszak’s third three-pointer extended the Lady Colonel advantage to 27 points.
Avery finished the game with 14 points, six assists and six rebounds. The point guard committed just four turnovers in 32 minutes on the floor.
The lead continued to grow. Jessica Streater’s driving lay-up made it a 28-point game with 4:20 remaining. The lead ballooned to 30 points, 82-52, on a jumper by LaTonya Stokes with just over a minute and a half before the final buzzer.
EKU made eight of 25 three-point attempts (32 percent) and finished the night 29-of-73 (39.7 percent) from the field. The Lady Colonels converted 75 percent (18-of-24) of their opportunities at the charity stripe.
The Skins connected on 19 of 55 shots from the field for 34.5 percent. They went 5-for-12 (41.7 percent) from beyond the three-point arc.
Eastern Kentucky finished the game with 49 rebounds, including 26 off the offensive glass.
Shavonne Jones helped the Lady Colonels get off to a quick 6-1 start in the first half. Jones scored four of EKU’s first six points and had three rebounds in the first three minutes of the game. Avery knocked down a three-pointer and a layup on back-to-back possessions to push the Eastern lead to 11-4.
A tip-in by Jones with 10:17 left in the first half pushed the Lady Colonel advantage to nine, 19-10. Jones finished the first half of play with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Eastern Kentucky used a 12-4 run, keyed by a pair of three-pointers by Crystal Jones, to build its largest first half lead. Jones second trey made it a 15-point game, 33-18, with 3:44 left before intermission.
After starting four for 10 from beyond the three-point arc, the Lady Colonels missed their final four shots from deep before the halftime break. EKU took a 37-25 lead to the locker room.
Showtime made just six of 21 shots (28.6 percent) in the first 20 minutes of action. The Skins did make 12 of 16 free throws.
The Lady Colonels will officially tip-off the 2007-08 on Nov. 17 when they host West Virginia Tech at 7 p.m.
