MARTIN, Tenn. – Freshman Alex Jones posted her second straight double-double as Eastern Kentucky escaped with a 56-53 win over Tennessee-Martin on Saturday. The Lady Colonels (4-3, 2-0 OVC) won for the fourth straight time.

Jones finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Fellow freshman Brittany Coles finished with 13 points. Senior Colette Cole contributed eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

EKU out-rebounded UT Martin 36-24, but committed 26 turnovers.

Yalonda Davis registered a game-best 17 points for the Skyhawks (1-5, 0-2 OVC). Cali Cupples scored 12 points on four three-pointers.

Eastern Kentucky held UTM scoreless for almost four minutes to start the game and led by six, 10-4, after a three-pointer by Cole with 14:47 left in the opening period. The Skyhawks answered with a 7-0 run to go up by one. The score remained within three-points until late in the half.

Tennessee-Martin scored just three points over the final three and a half minutes of the first half. A 9-0 run by the Lady Colonels, capped off by Coles’ third three-pointer of the first half, pushed the visitors out in front by 10, 31-21, with 1:24 remaining in the first half. Davis broke the UTM scoring drought with a three-pointer at the 1:07 mark. Cole’s lay-up with 13 seconds showing on the clock capped the scoring and sent EKU to the locker room with a nine-point advantage, 33-24.

Coles had 10 points in the first half. Jones grabbed 10 rebounds in the opening period. Eastern shot 50 percent from the field, but were slowed by 15 turnovers.

The Skyhawks opened the second half on an 11-2 run. Cupples knocked down three three-pointers during the run. Her third tied the score, 35-35, with 16:31 left in the game. After the game-tying basket, UT Martin went scoreless for more than seven minutes, but Eastern Kentucky scored only six points during that time and led by six, 41-35 with just over nine minutes remaining.

EKU would stretch the run to 12-3 and go on top by nine, 47-38, after a basket by Jones with 7:38 left to play.

UTM slowly got back within striking distance, drawing within three, 49-46, on a lay-up by Davis with 3:58 showing on the clock. A lay-up and a pair of free throws by Jones pushed the Lady Colonels back in front by six, 53-47, with 57 seconds left in the game, but missed free throws allowed the Skyhawks a chance to win.

Sarah Fraser-Jones and Jones each missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Davis connected on a jumper with 11 seconds to go to draw within two, 53-51. Eastern hit just enough free throws, 3-for-6, in the final 10 seconds to hold on.

EKU shot 47.5 percent from the field for the game but made only 13-of-22 free throw attempts (59.1 percent). UTM made 37.7 percent of its shots.

The Lady Colonels will step out of conference play for a contest against West Virginia on Tuesday. Tip-off in Morgantown, W.Va., is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Notes
Eastern Kentucky has won four straight for the first time since winning 15 straight on its way to the NCAA tournament in 2005.

The Lady Colonels are 2-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

Freshman Alex Jones posted her second straight double-double, finishing with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Alex Jones had 10 rebounds in the first half.

EKU surpassed its season-high of four three-point field goals, in the first half. The Lady Colonels had five treys in the first half before going 0-for-5 from deep in the second half.

Freshman Brittany Coles tied her career-best with 13 points.

EKU improved to 30-10 all-time against the Skyhawks. The Lady Colonels have won seven straight in the series and 10 of the last 11 meetings between the two schools.

Eastern Kentucky has out-rebounded six of its first seven opponents.

Junior Talisha Davis needs 72 more points to reach 1,000 for her collegiate career. She scored 859 points in two seasons at Lincoln Trail College.