Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky trailed by only four points with four minutes to go, but Southeast Missouri State used a 10-3 run to build an 11-point cushion and went on to earn a 66-56 win Thursday night at McBrayer Arena.

Freshman Kayla Drake and sophomore Cherie White each finished with 13 points for the Lady Colonels (6-17, 3-11). White added a career-high 14 rebounds for her first career double-double. Drake also finished with six rebounds and six assists. Senior Ilona Muszak knocked down four three-pointers and finished with 12 points.

Crysta Glenn and Lauren Sharpe each recorded 13 points for the Redhawks (13-11, 8-5 OVC). Tarina Nixon added 12 points. Sonya Daugherty posted 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Eastern Kentucky had 17 assists on its 19 made field goals. SEMO shot 50 percent in the second half, after making only 29.4 percent of its first half shots.

Through the first seven minutes of the second half, the lead changed hands nine times. After Drake tied the score at 40-40 with a pair of free throws at the 11:34 mark, Southeast Missouri scored eight of the next nine points to move out in front by seven, 48-41, with 9:02 remaining in the game.

A free throw by Glenn and a three-pointer from Sharpe capped a 12-3 Southeast Missouri run and gave the visitors a nine-point lead, 52-43, with 5:48 left to play. A three-pointer by Drake and an old-fashioned three-point play by White, sandwiched around a Redhawk free throw, cut the deficit to four, 53-49, with just over four minutes showing on the clock.

Southeast answered by using its 10-3 run to go on top 63-52 with 49 seconds left in the game. Rachel Blunt’s lay-up with just under two minutes to go pushed SEMO’s lead back to seven, 59-52. Four straight Redhawk free throws extended their lead to 11 with less than a minute to play.

Eastern trailed for the first 18 minutes and 24 seconds of the first half. Seven straight points by Daugherty put the Redhawks in front by 12, 19-7, with 10:09 remaining in the opening period.

The two teams then exchanged a series of runs. The Lady Colonels scored eight straight, including back-to-back three-pointers by Muszak to draw within four, 19-15, with 7:26 to go before intermission. SEMO then rolled off six unanswered to go back on top by double digits, 25-15, with 4:11 showing on the clock.

Southeast did not score again in the first half and EKU ended the half on an 11-0 run. White scored seven of the 11 points. With 36 seconds to play in the first half, Sarah Fraser-Jones tied the score with a transition lay-up. White’s free throw with 0.6 seconds remaining gave the home squad its first lead, 26-25.

The Redhawks made seven of their first 18 shots from the field (38.9 percent) as they built their 12-point lead. However, SEMO made just two of its final 13 shots and missed eight straight to end the half.

Eastern Kentucky had an assist to go along with each of its nine first half field goals.

The Lady Colonels will face Eastern Illinois on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.