Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Eastern Kentucky’s women’s basketball team shot 56.1 percent in a 79-67 road victory on Thursday at Jacksonville State University. Newcomer Talisha Davis scored a season-high 29 points. Freshman Alex Jones finished with 23 points.

The Lady Colonels improved to 8-6 overall and 5-0 in Ohio Valley Conference action. Eastern has already surpassed its win totals from the 2008-09 season (7-20, 4-14 OVC).

EKU built an 18-point second half lead before the Lady Colonels relaxed defensively and allowed the Gamecocks (3-11, 0-4 OVC) to close the gap to six with 2:50 left in the game. Davis went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final minute to hold off the Jacksonville State rally.

Eastern Kentucky shot 64 percent in the second half and finished the game 32-for-57 from the field. The Lady Colonels made 40 percent of their shots from behind the three-point arc.

After holding the Gamecocks to 35.7 percent shooting in the first half, and 12.5 percent from deep, EKU allowed the home squad to shoot 53.1 percent in the second half. Jacksonville State hit on 36.4 percent from three-point range in the second stanza.

Davis, a junior college transfer in her first season at EKU, added four assists and three rebounds to her season-best 29 points. Jones finished 11-for-14 from the field and added six rebounds and four steals to her totals.

Candice Carmine came off the bench to score a team-high 18 for Jacksonville State. Karisma Boykin added 14 points and six assists.

Jones scored Eastern Kentucky’s first six points of the game. A driving lay-up by Shakeyia Colyer with 15:27 on the clock gave the Lady Colonels an early 8-3 lead. Jones made her first five attempts from the field and had 10 points at the break.

Davis knocked down a pair of three-pointers to push the EKU lead to 22-13 with 8:24 to play before halftime. The second trey gave her 999 points for her collegiate career. A little over a minute later she converted a Gamecock turnover into a lay-up for her 1,001 career point. The junior scored 859 points in two seasons at Lincoln Trail College.

Eastern Kentucky scored the final four points of the first half, on a pair of jumpers by Davis, and carried a 12-point advantage into the locker room at intermission. Davis scored 14 points in the first half.

The Lady Colonels shot 50 percent in the first 20 minutes of play and out-rebounded the Gamecocks 25-9. EKU grabbed 11 boards off the offensive glass.

Eastern stretched its run to 8-0 by scoring the first four points of the second half. A basket by Jones put the Lady Colonels in front 39-23 with over 18 minutes left in the game. A trey by Davis followed by a lay-up by Sarah Fraser-Jones gave the visitors their largest lead of the game, 18-points, 64-46, with 7:48 remaining.

Jacksonville State then used a 17-5 run to get within six late in the contest.

The Lady Colonels will conclude their two-game road trip on Saturday at Tennessee Tech. Tip-off against the Golden Eagles is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.

Notes
The Lady Colonels have already surpassed their overall (7) and conference (4) win totals from last season.

Eastern Kentucky improved to 5-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play for the first time since the 2002-03 season. That year the Lady Colonels began the conference schedule with six straight wins.

EKU junior Talisha Davis recorded her 1,000th collegiate point on a lay-up in the first half. Davis scored 859 points in two seasons at Lincoln Trail College.

The game marked the first time two Lady Colonels scored 20 or more points in the same game since Jan. 8, 2009, when EKU beat Jacksonville State 67-62 in Richmond.

Eastern set season-highs for points (79), field goals (32) and field goal percentage (56.1).

Entering the game, EKU’s last three opponents had shot a combined 10.5 percent from behind the three-point arc. Jacksonville State went 5-for-19 from deep for 26.3 percent.

Jacksonville State is only the second team in the last nine games to score more than 60 points against the Lady Colonels.

Eastern Kentucky has now out-rebounded 10 of its 14 opponents this season.

The Lady Colonels’ bench has out-scored their opponents bench in seven straight games.

Eastern Kentucky leads the all-time series with Jacksonville State 13-3.