Box Score
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Eastern Kentucky trailed Austin Peay by 21 points at halftime but used a 19-2 run to start the second half to close the gap to four before falling 70-66 Monday night. Freshman
Kayla Drake led the Lady Colonels (4-8, 1-3 OVC) with 20 points.
Colette Cole scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds for EKU.
Nadia Mossong contributed 14 points and a team-best eight rebounds. The Lady Colonels held a 39-36 edge in rebounds.
Two days after committing 33 turnovers at Tennessee State, Eastern gave the ball away only 19 times against the Lady Govs (7-8, 3-1 OVC).
Ashley Herring scored a game-high 21 points for Austin Peay. April Thomas turned in a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Austin Peay scored the first nine points of the game and led 11-4 after a basket by Thomas. A three-pointer by Drake cut the deficit to five, 14-9, with 12:54 remaining in the first half. Another six straight points by the Lady Govs, including four points by Brooke Faulkner, pushed the APSU lead to 11, 20-9, with 11:19 showing on the clock.
An old-fashioned three-point play by Thomas followed by a three-pointer from Faulkner, stretched the Austin Peay lead to 14, 26-12, with 8:27 to go in the first half. The Lady Govs suffered through a scoring drought that lasted nearly three minutes, but EKU was only able to shave two points off the deficit. Herring’s trey ended the APSU scoring drought and pushed the home squad out to a 31-14 lead.
The Lady Govs ended the first half with a 7-2 run and took a 38-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Eastern Kentucky scored the first 13 points of the second half. Drake opened play with a pair of free throws and a three-pointer from the top of the key. Cole followed with a trey, and back-to-back jumpers by
Jasmine Lewin made it a 38-29 game with 16:21 remaining. Cole’s free throw capped the 13-0 run and left the Lady Colonels down 38-30.
APSU’s first points of the second half came over six minutes into the period. A basket by Lauren Jones snapped the EKU streak and pushed the Lady Gov advantage back to 10. However, Eastern scored the next six points to close what began as a 21-point deficit to four, 40-36, with 11:32 left in the game.
Seven straight points by Austin Peay’s Whitney Hanley, four from the free throw line and a three-pointer from the left wing, extended the Lady Gov lead back to 13, 50-37, with 8:28 to go. Eastern Kentucky closed to within nine, but back-to-back three-pointers by Herring put APSU back on top by 12.
A trey by Drake brought the Lady Colonels back to within nine, 59-50, with 2:11 to play. Mossong’s three from the right corner made it a seven point game, 61-54, with 1:07 showing on the clock. A pair of Mossong free throws left EKU down by six with 47 ticks remaining. Cole hit a three-pointer from the left wing with 37 seconds to play to make it a five point game 64-59.
Austin Peay made 6-of-8 free throw attempts in the final 32 seconds to secure the victory. Drake’s three-pointer with two seconds remaining set the final score.
Eastern Kentucky shot 38.2 percent (21-for-55) from the field for the game. APSU made 36.5 percent (19-of-52) of its shots. After hitting 19 in the first half, the Lady Govs connected on only five field goals in the second half.
After concluding a two-game road trip, the Lady Colonels will return home for a pair of games. EKU will face Jacksonville State at McBrayer Arena on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
