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Game Notes
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Kentucky will put its two-game winning streak on the line against Eastern Illinois on Thursday at Lantz Arena. The Panthers (10-6, 4-1 OVC) are tied for first in the conference. The Lady Colonels (6-8, 3-3 OVC) are coming off back-to-back home court victories.
In its last game against Tennessee Tech on Saturday, EKU freshman Kayla Drake scored a game-high 22 points to lead Eastern Kentucky to a 66-50 win at McBrayer Arena. In winning their second straight game, the Lady Colonels used a 13-2 run midway through the second half to turn a one-point deficit into a 10 point lead.
Drake added six rebounds, five steals and four assists to her totals. Cherie White finished with 14 points and six rebounds for EKU. Colette Cole added 10 points and five boards. Sarah Fraser-Jones contributed nine assists, the most by a Lady Colonel this season.
On Monday, Drake was selected as the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Week. In three games last week, Drake averaged 21 points, six rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.7 steals per game. The weekly honor is the third for the freshman this season.
She scored 20-plus points in all three of EKU’s games, including a pair of wins. Drake scored 20 points and handed out four assists against Austin Peay. Against Jacksonville State, the Kokomo, Ind., native scored 21 points, grabbed a career-high nine rebounds, dished out three assists and came up with three steals.
In three games, Drake shot 40.9 percent from the field and 81 percent from the free throw line.
Eastern Kentucky leads the all-time series against Eastern Illinois 14-8. The last meeting between the two teams came on Jan. 12, 2008, EIU won 86-81 in Charleston. EIU has won five of the last six in the series.
EKU is 6-5 in games played in Charleston. The last two games in the series have gone to overtime.
The Lady Colonels will be the Panthers’ first opponent after suffering their first conference loss of the season. EIU fell at Southeast Missouri State, 58-51, on Saturday.
Eastern Illinois was voted as the preseason favorite to win the league title. Last season’s first team all-conference selection Rachel Galligan, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, leads the team in scoring (16.1 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg). Senior guard Ellen Canale is the team’s second leading scorer (10.8 ppg) and second leading rebounder (5.7 rpg).
EIU beat Tennessee State and Austin Peay, by 38 and 11 points respectively, at home in December. The Panthers knocked off Jacksonville State by 13 and Tennessee Tech by four on the road last week, before suffering their first league set-back at SEMO.
