Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – Senior Cherie White scored 22 points to lead Eastern Kentucky to a 77-66 victory over Pikeville College in an exhibition game on Sunday at McBrayer Arena.

The Lady Colonels jumped out to a 13-point lead as the Bears scored only four points in the game’s first eight minutes. However, Pikeville turned it around late in the first half and early in the second half. An 18-4 run by the visitors erased a 13-point Lady Colonel lead and the game remained close until the final minutes.

White made eight of her 11 attempts from the field, grabbed six rebounds and had three steals to go along with her team-best 22 points. Sophomore Alex Jones made only three of her seven attempts but knocked down all seven tries from the free throw line to finish with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Natiera Hinton led Pikeville College with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field.

Freshman Marie Carpenter’s lay-up off a Jones steal put EKU in front 17-4 with 12:15 left in the first half. A lay-up by Nadia Mossong with 11 minutes to go before intermission gave the Lady Colonels their largest lead of 17 points, 22-5. Carpenter finished the day with 12 points and five boards. Mossong had a team-high eight rebounds in 16 minutes of play.

The Bears began their run after a lay-up by Aimee Bouie put the Lady Colonels ahead by 13, 28-15, with 7:08 to play before the break. A jumper by Sally Roberts with a minute and a half left in the first half cut the deficit to two points for PC and the Bears went to the locker room at the break down by three.

Pikeville completed its comeback by scoring the first four points of the second half to take its first lead, 33-32. The game remained within six points until the final two minutes. After the Bears drew within two, 66-64, on a lay-up by Hinton with 3:06 left in the game, Eastern scored five straight to take control. Back-to-back transition lay-ups gave the Lady Colonels a seven-point advantage, 71-64, with 2:01 to go.

EKU missed 13 free throws during the game, but the Lady Colonels were a perfect 4-for-4 in the final minute to extend the final margin to 11 points.

Pikeville shot 41.3 percent from the field for the game and 64.7 percent from the free throw line. Eastern Kentucky shot 40.6 percent from the floor and 61.8 percent from the charity stripe. The Lady Colonels out-rebounded the Bears 44-34, including 19 boards off the offensive glass which led to 22 second-chance points.

The Lady Colonels will begin their 2010-11 regular season on Saturday when Chicago State visits McBrayer Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.