Box Score
CONWAY, Ark. – Eastern Kentucky trailed by as many as 14 points before storming back to take a 1-point lead, however Central Arkansas held on for a 61-52 victory on Saturday.
Central Arkansas (5-4) led by 14, 24-10, with 11:23 to play in the first half, and had a 13-point lead, 32-19, with 4:49 before intermission. A 9-2 Eastern Kentucky run in the final four minutes of the opening period cut the deficit to six, 34-28, at the break.
Eastern Kentucky (4-5) opened the second half with a 13-6 run to completely erase the deficit. A three-pointer by
Marie Carpenter with 12:23 left in the game completed the comeback and gave the Lady Colonels their first lead, 41-40. After falling behind by 13 with less than five minutes remaining in the first half, EKU out-scored the Sugar Bears 22-8 in taking their first and only lead of the game.
UCA went back in front by five midway through the second half. A lay-up by Carpenter with 3:05 left in the game kept Eastern within two, 52-50, but the Lady Colonels scored only two points the rest of the game.
Carpenter led EKU with 14 points.
Nadia Mossong contributed 12 points and seven rebounds. Megan Herbert led UCA with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Sidney Stewart added 12 points and five assists for Central Arkansas.
The Sugar Bears, ranked fifth in the nation in three-pointers made per game, knocked down four treys in the first six minutes to build an 18-7 lead, but they made only three the rest of the game.
UCA made 52 percent of its first half shots (13-for-25) while Eastern shot 41 percent (11-for-27). After doing early damage from outside the arc, the Sugar Bears went inside and out-scored the Lady Colonels 18-6 in the paint in the first half.
Eastern turned the tide inside in the second half, out-scoring Central Arkansas 18-6 in the paint. UCA made only 30 percent of their second half shots.
The Lady Colonels will be back in action on Dec. 19 when they return to Ohio Valley Conference play with a road trip to Austin Peay. The game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET.
