Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – A 9-2 run late in the second half doomed Eastern Kentucky’s women’s basketball team in a 60-50 loss to Eastern Illinois on Thursday at McBrayer Arena. Freshman Alex Jones recorded her fifth double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds, for EKU.

Freshman Ta’Kenya Nixon led the Panthers (9-8, 5-1 OVC) with 16 points and 17 rebounds. Dominique Sims added 17 points and eight boards.

Freshman Brittany Coles finished with a team-high 13 points for the Lady Colonels (8-8, 5-2 OVC). Junior Cherie White contributed nine points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Eastern Kentucky held EIU to 21 points and 30 percent shooting in the first half, but the Panthers shot 44.4 percent and scored 39 points in the second stanza. Eastern Illinois out-rebounded EKU 44-36.

The Lady Colonels jumped out to a 15-2 lead while making seven of their first 11 attempts from the field. Through the first 8:43 of the game, the Panthers had scored only two points. Coles scored seven and White scored six of the team’s first 15.

Eastern Illinois answered with a run of its own. The Panthers scored 10 straight to close the gap to three, 15-12, with eight minutes to go before halftime. Four different plays scored during the EIU run. A pair of free throws by Sims with 2:55 showing on the clock allowed the Panthers to tie the game for the first time.

A tip-in by Nadia Mossong with 1:17 left in the opening half sent EKU to the locker room in front 23-21.

After knocking down seven of their first 11 shots from the field, the Lady Colonels made just three of 14 attempts the rest of the half.

The Panthers scored the first four points of the second half to take their first lead of the game, 25-23. A three-pointer by Nixon pushed EIU out in front 35-32 with 11:45 left in the game. Eastern Illinois continued to lead the rest of the way. A three-pointer by Ashley Thomas with 4:32 remaining stretched the Panther lead to nine, 51-42, and capped a 9-2 run for the visitors.

With 2:04 left to play, the Lady Colonels closed to within five, on a pair of free throws by Coles, but EKU scored just two points the rest of the way. Eastern Illinois secured the victory by making 7-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes.

The Lady Colonels continue their four-game home stand on Saturday when Southeast Missouri State visits McBrayer Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Notes
With her fifth career double-double, Alex Jones tied EKU assistant coach Candice Finley for 11th place on Eastern’s all-time double-doubles list. Double-double records are only available since 1988-89.

The game was a match-up of EKU’s second ranked OVC defense and EIU’s top ranked OVC scoring offense. The Panthers entered the game ranked 58th in the nation in scoring offense (71.1 ppg).

Eastern Illinois entered the game ranked 31st in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (15.6). The Panthers had 14 turnovers in the first half and finished with 22 for the game.

Entering the game, Eastern Illinois had beaten its last three opponents by an average of 25.3 points per game.

Eastern Kentucky has been out-rebounded in four of its last six games.

The Eastern Kentucky bench has out-scored its opponents’ bench in nine straight games.

EKU leads the all-time series with Eastern Illinois 14-11, but EIU has won five straight in the series.

Eastern Kentucky has already surpassed its total number of wins (7) and total number of conference wins (4) from the 2008-09 season.