Box Score

MOREHEAD, Ky. – Career games by a pair of freshmen led the Eastern Kentucky to a 79-67 win at Morehead State on Saturday. Alex Jones scored 34 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, and Brittany Coles added 18 points as EKU knocked off the second place team in the conference.

With the win, the Lady Colonels (12-14) move to 8-8 in Ohio Valley Conference play, and coupled with Murray State’s loss to Eastern Illinois, have sole possession of fourth place with two games left in the regular season. The top four teams in the conference standings hosts first round OVC tournament games. EKU has doubled its number of conference wins from last season (4-14).

Jones went 12-for-17 from the field and 10-for-11 from the free throw line. Her 34 points bettered her previous career-high of 26 against Bethune-Cookman earlier this season. She had three assists, a block and a steal to go along with her career-best 18 rebounds, three more than her previous high. The double-double was her sixth of the season.

Coles’ 18 points were four more than her previous career-high set twice this season. Her six rebounds tied her career-best. She also contributed four assists and two steals. Fellow freshman Michaelea Kleist scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds in just 12 minutes of play.

Chynna Bozeman led Morehead State (19-9, 12-4 OVC) with 27 points. She went 8-for-28 from the field and 7-for-20 from three-point range.

EKU shot 47.6 percent from the field while holding the Eagles to 28.8 percent shooting. The visitors out-rebounded MSU by 12. Morehead State had 18 offensive rebounds, compared to 14 for Eastern Kentucky, but the Lady Colonels had a 23-5 advantage in second-chance points. EKU held a 44-8 scoring advantage in the paint.

Morehead State made 11-of-35 attempts (31.4 percent) from three-point range, but went just 8-for-31 (25.8 percent) from inside the arc.

EKU led by 13 with less than five minutes to play, but Morehead State put together one more run. An 11-1 Eagle run closed the gap to three. Bozeman’s three-pointer with 1:35 to go capped the run and made it a 68-65 game. Two free throws by Courtney Lumpkin with 1:03 on the clock kept MSU within three, 70-67. However, the Lady Colonels scored the final nine points of the game to secure the victory. Jones went 5-for-6 at the free throw line in the final minute.

A basket by Jones with 7:25 left in the opening period, gave EKU a five-point advantage, the largest lead by either team in the first half. However, back-to-back three-pointers by Tiffany Hamilton erased the Lady Colonel lead and put Morehead State up by one, 23-22. Eastern Kentucky led by one, 33-32, at the halftime break.

The score was tied five times in the first half and the lead changed hands nine times. Eastern scored on all seven of its offensive rebounds and out-scored MSU 14-2 on second-chance points.

After a bucket by Courtney Lumpkin kept Morehead State within one, 38-37, the Lady Colonels scored seven straight to key an 11-3 run that put the visitors in front by nine. Jones scored seven of the 11 points. Her jumper at the 13:00 mark capped the run and put EKU in front 49-40. Baskets by Coles and Cherie White stretched the lead to 11, 57-46, with 9:30 remaining in the game.

A three-pointer by Bozeman with 9:10 showing on the clock cut the lead to six, 55-49, but the Eagles went almost three minutes without scoring. A three-pointer by Sarah Fraser-Jones pushed the margin back to 11, 60-49, with 8:08 to go. An old-fashioned three-point play by Michaelea Kleist put Eastern Kentucky in front by 13, 63-50.

The Lady Colonels conclude the regular season with two home games next week. Tennessee-Martin visits McBrayer Arena on Thursday and Murray State will serve as EKU’s Senior Day opponent on Saturday.

Notes
Eastern Kentucky snapped a seven-game losing streak to Morehead State and now leads the all-time series 40-38.

EKU improved to 7-0 this season when scoring 60 or more points.

The game featured the top two scoring defenses in the Ohio Valley Conference. Morehead State leads the OVC by allowing opponents to score 58.8 points per game. EKU is second at 59.2 points per game.

Morehead State leads the nation in three-pointers per game (10.5). On Saturday the Eagles made 11 treys against the Lady Colonels.

In the first game of the season between the two teams, EKU out-rebounded Morehead State by 11, and the Eagles had 14 offensive rebounds. On Saturday, Eastern out-rebounded MSU by 12 and the Eagles had 18 offensive boards.

EKU had not scored more than 50 points in its last three games before tying its season-high of 79 points on Saturday against Morehead State.

Morehead State’s Ashar Harris, the leading rebounder in the OVC, did not play.

Cherie White’s streak of starting 43 straight games came to an end.