NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Eastern Kentucky will try to keep its two-game winning streak alive when the Lady Colonels travel to face Tennessee State on Thursday at the Gentry Center in Nashville. The game is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. (ET). EKU (10-6, 5-4 OVC) has consecutive wins over Jacksonville State and Samford. TSU (7-11, 4-5 OVC) started the conference schedule 4-1 but has lost four straight games.

Eastern Kentucky leads the all-time series 30-9 and has won 14 straight in the series. The Lady Colonels are 11-8 all-time in games played in Nashville.

On Saturday, Eastern Kentucky limited Samford to 27 percent shooting and 13 total field goals while beating the Bulldogs 72-45 at McBrayer Arena. The Lady Colonels shot 52 percent for the second straight game and got a game-high 25 points from senior guard Niki Avery.

Samford (13-6, 6-3 OVC) entered the game on a six game winning streak and as one of three teams with just two losses in conference play. The Bulldogs were led by Emily London with 14 points and six rebounds, but the freshman only registered two points in the second half.

Avery made seven of 10 attempts from beyond the three-point arc and 9-of-13 from the field. She also grabbed five boards and dished out three assists. The point guard turned the ball over only once in 38 minutes on the court.

Ashley Cazee added 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.

EKU made 13-of-19 three pointers for 68.4 percent and out-rebounded Samford 36-27. The Bulldogs made only 4-of-23 attempts (17.4 percent) from deep and just 1-of-11 in the second half.

The Lady Colonels got off to a quick start by hitting their first three shots from the field to take a 7-2 lead. Back-to-back three-pointers by LaTonyah Bentley and Avery extended the lead to 10 points, 17-7. Avery’s three from the left wing began a streak of four straight three pointers by the senior guard. Her fourth trey put Eastern in front 26-10 with 9:17 remaining in the first half.

LaTanya Stokes made it six straight three-pointers when she knocked down a triple from the right wing to put the home team in front 29-10 with 7:37 before intermission.

The Bulldogs opened the second half by scoring the first five points to cut the deficit to eight. After EKU moved the lead back to 14 points Samford scored six straight to get back to within eight, 44-36, with 14:26 to play. However, the Bulldogs went 8:12 without scoring and the Lady Colonels used a 15-0 run to put the game away.

Eastern Kentucky committed one more turnover than Samford, but the Lady Colonels out-scored the Bulldogs 29-17 off turnovers.

Since hitting just four of 22 three-point shots (18.2 percent) against Morehead State on Jan. 10, the Lady Colonels have made 34 of 62 shots from beyond the three-point arc for 54.8 percent in their last three games.

In her last six games, Avery has made 28 three-pointers. That’s an average of 4.7 treys per game. During that span she has attempted 61 three-pointers and is shooting 45.9 percent from deep. Avery made 7 of 10 attempts from three-point land on against Samford. That moved the senior past former Lady Colonel and current EKU assistant coach Lisa Pace into fifth place on EKU’s all-time three-pointers made list.

On Saturday, Tennessee State lost at home to Eastern Illinois, 69-56. Obiageli Okafor led the Lady Tigers with 17 points and seven rebounds. Kendra Appling added 12 points, four rebounds and six steals. As a team Tennessee State shot 33.3 percent from the field and was just 1-for-6 from beyond the three-point arc. EIU out-rebounded TSU 44-31.

Appling and Okafor are the team’s leading scorers. Appling is the second leading scorer in the OVC at 17.7 points per game. She is 33-for-74 from three-point land.

Okafor is fifth in the OVC with a scoring average of 15.4 points per game. She is also sixth in the conference with an average of eight rebounds per contest. She has made nearly 50 percent of her shots from the field but only 56 percent from the free throw line.

As a team, the Lady Tigers have the lowest free throw percentage in the OVC at 59.1 percent. TSU ranks third in the conference in field goal percentage (41.9) and second in three-point field goal percentage (38.8). Tennessee State has limited its opponents to a league best 29.3 percent shooting from behind the three-point arc.