Box Score

MURRAY, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky won its third straight game and snapped Murray State's 21-game home court winning streak with a 58-54 win Thursday night at the Regional Special Events Center. The Racers’ home court run was the fourth longest active streak in the nation.

MSU entered the game averaging 78.2 points per game and shooting 42.7 percent from the field. The Lady Colonels (3-3, 1-0 OVC) limited the Racers (4-3, 0-1 OVC) to 54 points and 26.2 percent shooting.

EKU freshman Alex Jones recorded her first collegiate double-double, finishing with 12 points and a game-best 14 rebounds. The Elizabethtown, Ky., native added four assists, two steals and one block. Junior newcomer Talisha Davis also finished with 12 points, to go along with seven rebounds and three steals.

Junior Cherie White scored 10 points and made all six of her free throw attempts, including four in the final minute of play.

Eastern out-rebounded MSU 51-39. The Racers came into the game averaging 41 boards per contest. Kayla Vance led Murray State with 10 points off the bench.

The Lady Colonels jumped out on top quickly. Fourteen seconds into the game White connected on a jumper from the top of the key for a 2-0 lead. The Racers started cold, missing their first 13 attempts from the field, including seven from behind the arc. EKU led 10-0 after a three-pointer by Sarah Fraser-Jones with 15:53 remaining in the first half. Murray State’s first field goal didn’t come until the 12:22 mark. Mariah Robinson got MSU on the board with a three-pointer.

Robinson’s basket began a run of nine straight for the Racers. Her bucket with 10:13 before intermission made it a 10-9 game. Eastern answered with another run of its own. The Lady Colonels scored six straight to key a 10-2 run. A lay-up by Fraser-Jones capped the run and pushed EKU in front by nine, 20-11, with 3:50 to play in the opening period.

To keep the pattern going, Murray State ended the first half with an 11-4 run. Vance scored the final four points of the first half to get the Racers within two, 24-22, at the break.

The second half began the similar to the first. Murray State missed its first six shots from the field and didn’t score until the 15:18 mark. EKU scored the first 10 points of the second stanza and led by 12, 34-22, after a bucket by Jones. The freshman scored six of Eastern’s first 10.

A driving lay-up by Davis with 13:08 left in the game gave the Lady Colonels a 16-point lead, 40-24, and capped a 16-2 run to begin the second half. The Racers strung together seven unanswered to get within nine, but Davis and freshman Shakeyia Colyer stopped the run. Davis knocked down a jumper with 9:58 to go. Moments later Colyer rebounded a missed three by Davis and put it back in for her first collegiate points. The put-back put the Lady Colonels back on top by 13, 44-31, with 8:44 left to play.

Through the first 14 and a half minutes of the second half, MSU made only two field goals, but scored 10 points at the free throw line. When the Racers began to hit shots, the EKU lead shrunk quickly.

After a free throw by Davis kept the margin at 13 with 6:19 left, Murray State scored eight straight to climb to within five. A pair of free throws by Jessica Holder made it a four-point game, 47-43, with 3:45 left to play.

An old fashioned three-point play by Tessa Elkins with 51 seconds remaining cut the margin to three, 51-48, but the Lady Colonels connected on 7-of-8 attempts from the charity stripe to secure the victory.

EKU’s road trip continues on Saturday at Tennessee-Martin. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET. The Skyhawks lost to Morehead State, 59-42, Thursday night.