Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky scored a season-best 58 points, shot a season-best 40 percent from the field, and set season-highs for assists and steals, but were done in by a season-high 32 turnovers in a 66-58 loss to Florida Atlantic on Saturday at McBrayer Arena.

Newcomer Talisha Davis led the Lady Colonels (0-3) with a game-high 23 points. Junior Cherie White scored 11 and junior Nadia Mossong contributed seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Brittany Bowe scored 18 points to lead the Owls (2-2). Andrea Taylor and Lyrell Barfield added 10 each.

Eastern Kentucky shot 40 percent from the field, including 47.8 percent in the second half. The Lady Colonels had a season-high 10 assists and 11 steals and out-rebounded FAU 37-30.

Florida Atlantic outscored Eastern 29-8 off turnovers. The Owls shot 41.5 percent from the field, but just 23.1 percent from behind the three-point arc, the first time EKU held an opponent under 40 percent shooting from deep this season.

Davis also contributed three steals and two assists.

Eastern Kentucky didn’t score its first points until almost four and a half minutes into the game. A jumper by Davis got the Lady Colonels on the board and made it a two point game, 4-2. A three-pointer by Davis with 12:23 on the clock gave EKU its first lead, 7-5.

A lay-up by freshman Alex Jones kept Eastern in front by two, 11-9. A jumper by freshman Ashley Pritchett made it a three-point game, 16-13, with 7:32 remaining before halftime.

A three-pointer by Lyrell Barfield put the Owls back in front, 22-20. Two free throws by Barfield pushed it to a six-point FAU advantage, 26-20, with just over three minutes left in the first half.

Eastern Kentucky scored five straight on a three-pointer by Pritchett and two free throws by White to close the gap to one, 26-25. However, a trey by Florida Atlantic’s Teri Stamps and a lay-up by Barfield in the final minute sent the Owls to the locker room ahead by six, 31-25.

The Lady Colonels turned the ball over 18 times in the first half, and FAU held a 21-4 advantage in points off turnovers.

A three-pointer by Taylor eight seconds into the second period pushed the Owls to a nine-point lead, 34-25. The Lady Colonels didn’t let the game get away. Davis answered at the other end with a lay-up to start a 7-0 EKU run. The junior capped it with a three-pointer to draw the home squad to within two, 34-32, with 16:32 left in the game.

The two teams then combined for just four points over the next three and a half minutes. Mossong’s jumper snapped Eastern Kentucky’s drought and kept her team within two, 37-35, with 12:55 remaining. Another basket by Mossong tied the score 37-37 a minute later.

Jessica Knurick’s jumper with 11:34 left in the game snapped a four and a half minute scoring drought for Florida Atlantic and put the Owls back on top 39-37.

A lay-up and a pair of free throws by senior Colette Cole swung the lead back to the Lady Colonels, 41-39, but just as quickly FAU scored six straight to take the lead back, 45-41. After a pair of free throws by Bowe, Davis answered on the other end with a pull-up jumper from the top of the key. The junior then turned a Florida Atlantic turnover into a three-point bomb from the left wing to give Eastern Kentucky a 46-45 lead with just over eight minutes left to play.

After the Owls used a 6-0 run to take a five-point lead, Davis converted an old-fashioned three-point play to get the Lady Colonels back to within two, 51-49, with 6:23 remaining in the game. Two free throws by Mossong with five minutes to play cut the deficit to one, 54-53, but EKU would get no closer.

FAU scored six straight to go up by seven with 3:38 on the clock, and the Lady Colonels never got any closer than five in the closing minutes.

The Lady Colonels will return to action on Friday. Head coach Chrissy Roberts will take her team to East Carolina’s Lady Pirate Invitational. Roberts served as an assistant at ECU for six seasons before taking over the EKU program. Eastern will face Towson on Friday at 7 p.m., and will play Bethune-Cookman on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.