Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky built a 12-point second half lead and led by 10 with 12 minutes left in the game, but the Lady Colonels scored just six more points and allowed Central Arkansas to escape McBrayer Arena with a 52-47 victory on Tuesday.

Freshman Alex Jones led EKU (5-6) with 15 points. Senior Colette Cole scored seven and junior Cherie White grabbed a team-best seven rebounds. Megan Herbert led the Sugar Bears (8-2) to their eighth straight victory with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

After limiting UCA to 24 percent shooting and 17 points in the first half, Eastern allowed the visitors to shoot 47.6 percent and score 35 points in the second half.

The Sugar Bears scored first, but the Lady Colonels scored the next 10 points to go on top 10-2. Jones had a pair of lay-ups, and Sarah Fraser-Jones and Talisha Davis each knocked down a three-pointer to get EKU off to a fast start.

Central Arkansas used a 7-0 run late in the first half to take back the lead. Herbert scored all seven points and her lay-up at the 2:59 mark put the visitors in front 17-14. However, UCA did not score again in the first half. White and Nadia Mossong recorded lay-ups for Eastern Kentucky and freshman Ashley Pritchett nailed a three-pointer from the left corner as time expired to send the Lady Colonels to the locker room with a four-point lead, 21-17.

Seven different Lady Colonels scored in the first half, and none scored more than four points. EKU had eight assists on its nine first half field goals. Eastern limited UCA to 24 percent (6-for-25) shooting in the first half. Herbert had eight points and nine rebounds at the break.

Eastern Kentucky opened the second half with a 10-4 run to take a 10-point lead, 31-21, with 16:59 left to play. Jones and Shakeyia Colyer each scored four points during the run.

A three-pointer by Cole at the 15:12 mark stretched the EKU advantage to 12, 36-24. Three minutes later Brittany Coles connected on a long three-pointer as the shot clock expired to maintain a 10-point cushion, 41-31, for Eastern. However, the Lady Colonels scored just two points over the next nine and a half minutes and the Sugar Bears climbed back into the game.

Central Arkansas used an 11-2 run to close the gap to a single point. A jumper by Megan Moss capped the run and made it 43-42 with 3:29 left to play. A pair of free throws by Nakeia Guiden with just less than two minutes to go tied the game at 46-46. A minute later Herbert connected on two free throws to give UCA the lead for good and complete the Sugar Bear comeback.

The Lady Colonels will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 2, when they step back into conference play against Tennessee State. The Lady Tigers will visit McBrayer Arena for a 4 p.m. game.

Notes
The Lady Colonels had 10 assists on their first 11 field goals of the game.

For only the second time this season, EKU committed fewer turnovers than its opponent.

The EKU defense held a high scoring Central Arkansas team to 52 points. UCA entered the game averaging 81.9 points per game, including scoring 100 or more points twice.

Eastern Kentucky was out-rebounded for just the third time this season.

One game after seeing only five players score, 10 Lady Colonels scratched the scoring column against Central Arkansas.

Central Arkansas is now 4-20 in non-conference road games since the 2006-07 season.

This game was the first ever meeting between the two teams.