JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Eastern Kentucky lost 76-63 to High Point in the opening round of the Saint Peter’s College Holiday Tournament tonight in Jersey City, N.J. The Lady Colonels (6-4) took a three-point lead to open the second half but the Panthers (6-5) answered with a 10-0 run to take control of the game.

Crystal Jones led EKU with 15 points. Ashley Cazee added 12 points. Shavonne Jones scored 10 points in the first half but was shutout in the second stanza.

Amy Dodd led High Point with 17 points and added nine rebounds. LaTeisha Dean scored 16 points. Amber Manuel finished with a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 boards.

HPU out-rebounded Eastern Kentucky 52-37.

Neither team led by more than four points until a jumper by Jurica Hargraves gave High Point a five-point advantage with 10:39 to play in the first half. After a pair of free throws by Ashlee Samuels gave the Panthers their second five-point lead, the Lady Colonel defense tightened up.

EKU held High Point scoreless for more than four minutes and rolled off a 10-0 run to turn a five-point deficit into a five-point advantage. Niki Avery started it off with a three-pointer. Shavonne Jones scored six of her 10 first half points during the run. Her two free throws made it 25-20 with 5:33 left in the opening half.

The Panthers answered with a 7-0 run of their own to move back in front by two, 27-25. A pair of free throws by Dodd made it a four-point game, 33-29, with just under two minutes before halftime.

Jones tied the game for the eighth time with two free throws with 40 seconds showing on the clock.

Cazee’s three-pointer 38 seconds into the second half gave the Lady Colonels a three-point lead but Eastern missed its next four shots and committed two turnovers while the Panthers scored 10 unanswered points. Dean’s lay-up at the 16:10 mark made it 43-36.

Dean’s three-pointer stretched the HPU advantage to 11 points, 51-40, with 12:52 left in the game.

Five straight points by the Lady Colonels, including four by Cazee, cut a 10-point deficit in half. Cazee’s lay-up with 10:51 left to play drew Eastern to within five points, 52-47. EKU held on the defensive end and had a shot to draw within three-points on a jumper by Cherie White.

The basket didn’t fall and the Lady Colonels would not get any closer. High Point scored six straight points to move back in front by 11, 58-47, with just over nine minutes remaining.

The Panthers made 16-of-32 second half shot attempts for 50 percent while the Lady Colonels went 10 of 34 from the field for 29.4 percent.

The Lady Colonels will play either Saint Peter’s College or the University of Pennsylvania in the consolation game on Sunday at 5 p.m.