Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky shot 20.8 percent from the field in a 53-47 loss to Wright State Tuesday at McBrayer Arena. Freshman Kayla Drake led the Lady Colonels (2-3) with 16 points. Shey Peddy’s 18 points led the Raiders (1-1).

EKU made only 11 of 53 shot attempts and went 5-for-25 from behind the three-point arc. Wright State shot 33.3 percent (17-for-51) from the field, including 1-for-11 from deep.

Junior Colette Cole scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and forced five steals for the Lady Colonels. Sophomore Cherie White added seven points and nine rebounds.

Peddy scored 12 of her 18 points at the free throw line. Molly Fox finished with 11 points for the Raiders. Erica Richardson contributed eight points and nine rebounds off the bench.

The two teams missed 38 shots and combined for 29 turnovers in the first half.

Wright State connected on four of its first six shots and led 8-2 at the first media timeout. However, the Raiders went the next 6:27 without making a field goal. Despite missing eight of its first 10 shots, and all five attempts from behind the three-point arc, EKU cut the deficit to 9-7 on a pair of free throws by Nadia Mossong with 12:02 remaining in the first half.

Peddy snapped WSU’s 0-for-4 streak with a running jumper in the lane that gave Wright State an 11-7 lead with 9:32 to play in the opening stanza. Drake answered on the other end with a three-pointer to close the gap to one point.

After Drake’s trey, the Lady Colonels went on a scoring drought of their own. EKU missed its next11 shots from the field over a span of 7:37. The Raiders were not able to take advantage, hitting only 3-of-12 shots while Eastern was cold. Fox’s lay-up with 2:12 showing on the clock put Wright State on top 17-10.

Just as quickly as the Lady Colonels went cold, they got hot. After scoring 10 points in the first 18 minutes of the game, Eastern put eight points on the board in a little more than a minute. White and Ilona Muszak hit back-to-back three pointers and White added two more at the line to give EKU its first lead, 18-17, with 41 seconds to play before halftime.

Wright State’s Maria Bennett’s three-pointer sent the Raiders to the locker room in front by two, 20-18.

Eastern Kentucky made only five of 26 shot attempts in the first half, including 3-of-13 attempts from deep. WSU went 9-for-26 in the opening period.

After Drake’s three pointer two and a half minutes into the second half brought Eastern to within one point, 24-23, Wright State rolled off eight straight, including a pair of lay-ups by Richardson, to move out in front 32-23 with 13:21 left in the game.

The Lady Colonels slowly climbed back within striking distance. A pair of free throws from Drake with less than nine minutes to go made it a three-point game, 35-32. EKU stayed within five until the closing seconds. Two free throws from Mossong cut the deficit to 40-38 with 4:06 to play. Two more from the charity stripe by Drake with 59 seconds showing on the clock kept the deficit at three.

Wright State maintained its lead by making all eight free throws in the final minute. Four straight free throws by Peddy pushed it to a seven-point game, 51-44, with 20 seconds to go. Cole made a three-pointer and Peddy scored two more at the line to set the final score.

The Lady Colonels will have over a week off of game action. Next up for EKU is an Ohio Valley Conference game against Murray State on December 4. Tip-off at McBrayer Arena is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.