Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky led the whole way but the game wasn’t decided until the final seconds as the Lady Colonels escaped with a 50-45 victory over Southeast Missouri State on Thursday. Freshman Alex Jones led EKU with 15 points, including the two clinching free throws with three seconds left in the game.

The win allowed Eastern (11-13, 7-7 OVC) to even its conference record and hold on to fourth place in the standings with two weeks and four games left in the regular season.

A basket by Jones gave EKU a seven-point cushion, 48-41, with 2:35 remaining, but the Redhawks wouldn’t go away, scoring four straight to make it a one possession game in the final minute. Eastern missed the front end of two bonus free throw attempts leading to a lay-up by SEMO’s Bailie Roberts with 43 seconds to play that cut the lead to three, 48-45.

Southeast Missouri (7-16, 4-9 OVC) never got off a shot to tie. With a foul to give, Eastern let the clock tick down to seven before committing a foul and forcing the Redhawks to inbound the ball. Jones came up with a steal on the inbound pass and then made both free throws to clinch the victory.

The freshman also finished with six rebounds and three blocks. Shakeyia Colyer scored 13 points. Senior Colette Cole added 11 points. Senior Sarah Fraser-Jones and junior Cherie White both grabbed a team-best seven boards.

Shelah Fields came off the bench to hit three second half three-pointers that kept the Redhawks in the game and finished with a team-high 11 points. Brittany Harriel scored nine points and grabbed 10 boards.

The Lady Colonels scored the first nine points of the game and were pitching a shutout through the first three minutes. The Redhawks got on the board with three free throws, but didn’t connect on their first field goal until the 11:12 mark. A three-pointer by Colyer staked EKU to a 20-3 lead with 12:04 left in the first half.

Southeast Missouri got as close as 10, 26-16, on a three-pointer by Katie Norman with 3:10 remaining before intermission. Colyer’s three-pointer at the 2:45 mark served as Eastern’s only points in the final four and a half minutes of the first half, but the Lady Colonels carried an 11-point lead, 29-18, into the locker room at the break.

SEMO shot 19.2 percent (5-for-26) in the first half, failing to take advantage of 10 offensive rebounds. EKU made 45.8 percent (11-for-24) from the field, including 5-of-10 from three-point range.

Eastern Kentucky scored the first four points of the second half to stretch its lead back to 15, 33-18. However, the Redhawks answered with eight straight to draw within single digits. Back-to-back three-pointers by Fields cut the margin to 33-26 with 16 minutes left in the game.

Southeast Missouri’s third three-pointer of the second half brought the home team within five, 36-31, with 12:55 to go. Eastern pushed back in front by 10 on baskets by White, 43-33, and Brittany Coles, 45-35, but Fields’ third trey with 7:27 left to play brought it back to seven. Harriel banked in a three as the shot clock expired at the 6:31 mark to make it a four-point game, 45-41.

After the basket by Coles at the 9:08 mark, the Lady Colonels went almost six minutes without scoring, allowing SEMO to climb back into the game.

Eastern shot 41.3 percent for the game. Southeast Missouri made 26.8 percent of its shots and went 7-for-23 (30.4 percent) from three-point range. The Redhawks had 17 offensive rebounds but converted those boards into only six points. EKU turned the ball over 17 times, but only six times in the second half.

The Lady Colonels will conclude their road trip on Saturday at conference leader Eastern Illinois University. Tip-off in Charleston, Ill., is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET.

Notes
Eastern Kentucky snapped a nine-game losing streak to Southeast Missouri State. The Lady Colonels hadn’t beaten the Redhawks since a double overtime victory in the championship game of the 2005 OVC tournament.

In the first meeting of the season between the two teams, EKU scored just 41 points, setting a record for the fewest points ever scored by an Eastern team in an OVC game. On Thursday night, the Lady Colonels had 29 points at halftime and finished with 50 points.

Eastern Kentucky turned the ball over 23 times, shot just 25.9 percent from the field in the second half and scored only 16 second half points in the first game against Southeast Missouri this season. On Thursday, EKU had 17 turnovers and shot 41.3 percent.

In its last three games, EKU has averaged 16.7 turnovers per game. Much less than its season average of 22.4 per game.

EKU has held 14 of its last 19 opponents to 60 points or less. Eastern has held 19 of its 24 opponents this season to 65 points or less.

Eastern Kentucky leads the all-time series 26-13. Southeast Missouri State had won nine straight in the series. Eastern is now 10-8 all-time in Cape Girardeau.