Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky’s women’s team basketball trailed by one early in the second half before out-scoring the Tennessee-Martin 17-2 over an eight minute time span en route to a 58-52 win Saturday at McBrayer Arena. The win snapped a four-game losing skid for EKU.

Cherie White led the Lady Colonels (3-4, 1-1 OVC) with 16 points. Phyllisha Mitchell contributed a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Skyhawks (1-6, 0-2 OVC).

Samantha Harper’s jumper gave Tennessee-Martin a 29-28 lead with 16:46 left in the game, but Eastern Kentucky out-scored the Skyhawks 17-2 over the next eight minutes to build a 14-point lead.

White began the run with a free throw to tie the game. Colette Cole followed with a jumper to give EKU the lead for good. An old-fashioned three-point play by Sarah Fraser-Jones pushed the Eastern advantage to 10, 41-31. Jasmine Lewin knocked down a baseline jumper and White added two more free throws to cap the run and put the Lady Colonels in front by 14 points, 45-31, with 9:18 remaining in the game.

UTM closed the gap to eight four times before a lay-up by Harper made it a six-point contest with 1:26 left in the game. After an Eastern Kentucky turnover, Mitchell missed a three-point attempt that would have made it a three-point game. Kayla Drake converted a pair of free throws on the other end to secure the victory.

Cole finished with 13 points for EKU. Drake scored nine points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out a career-high six assists and committed only two turnovers in 33 minutes on the court. Fraser-Jones scored nine points and grabbed five boards.

Harper contributed 11 points and nine rebounds to the Skyhawk cause.

UT Martin jumped out to an early lead with the help of six early points by Alishia Glover and four by Mitchell. Yalonda Davis’ lay-up with 9:54 remaining in the first half made it 16-8 in favor of the Skyhawks.

Trailing by eight, the Lady Colonels scored six straight points to begin an 11-3 run to take the lead. Drake scored four of the first six points of the run and her jumper from the right wing in transition cut the deficit to 16-14 and forced the Skyhawks to call a timeout.

Out of the time out, Maryam Kirk knocked down a three-pointer for Tennessee-Martin to push the visitors back on top by five, 19-14. White’s jumper and Lewin’s trey for EKU tied the score at 19-19. After a steal by Drake, White converted a fast-break lay-up to give the Lady Colonels their first lead of the game, 21-19, and cap the Eastern run with 6:35 to play before intermission.

Drake tied her career-high with four assists in the first half.

The two teams exchanged baskets, with Cole’s jumper putting Eastern back on top by two, 23-21, with 4:32 to go before the break. Neither team scored in the final four and half minutes, missing on 11 shot attempts combined, and it remained a two-point game at halftime.

Forty-one seconds into the second half Davis ended the scoring drought for UTM when she connected on a three-pointer from behind the men’s three-point line.

Eastern Kentucky shot 47.4 percent in the second half and 41.7 percent for the game, despite making only two of 10 three-point attempts. The Lady Colonels committed a season-low 14 turnovers.

UT Martin made 34.4 percent of its shots, but out-rebounded EKU 40-29. The Skyhawks grabbed 19 boards off the offensive glass.

The Lady Colonels will have a week off of game action before returning to McBrayer Arena to host Houston Baptist next Saturday at 1 p.m.