Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – Despite holding Jacksonville State scoreless for 11 minutes in the first half and leading by 11 with less than seven minutes remaining in the game, Eastern Kentucky lost 49-46 in overtime on Saturday night at McBrayer Arena. The Gamecocks ended regulation on a 12-1 run and scored the first five points in overtime.

Freshman Shakeyia Colyer hit a three-pointer at the 6:48 mark to put the Lady Colonels (10-13, 6-7 OVC) on top 43-32, however, Eastern scored only one point the rest of regulation. Brittany Coles hit the first of two free throws with 22 seconds left to make it a two-point game, 44-42, but she missed the second that would have stretched the margin to three.

Zenobia Pitts missed a three-pointer for Jacksonville State (7-16, 4-9 OVC) with 17 seconds remaining, but the Gamecocks secured the rebound. JSU got two more chances to tie the game, the final one a jumper in the paint by Brittany Wiley with only one second showing on the clock sent the game to overtime.

The Gamecocks scored the first five points of the second half to extend their late game run to 17-1. A free throw by Pitts with 25 seconds left in the extra frame left Jacksonville State on top 49-44. However, three missed free throws by JSU in the final 25 seconds gave Eastern Kentucky a chance.

A put-back by Sarah Fraser-Jones cut the deficit to three with 16 ticks remaining. Wiley missed both free throw attempts with the clocked stopped at 10. Fraser-Jones got off a potential game-tying three pointer at the buzzer but the shot was short.

Poor shooting doomed the home squad. EKU out-rebounded Jacksonville State by six, had 16 offensive rebounds and blocked 10 shots, but the Lady Colonels shot just 25 percent from the floor and 56.3 percent from the free throw line. Eastern turned 16 offensive boards into only eight points.

Wiley led the Gamecocks with a game-high 23 points and a team-best 10 rebounds. She was the only Gamecock to score more than six points and attempted 22 of JSU’s 63 shots.

Colyer finished with career-highs in points (18) and rebounds (9). Freshman Alex Jones grabbed 14 rebounds and scored nine points, but made just 2-of-13 attempts from the field.

The Lady Colonels fell behind 10-5 after making just two of their first 11 attempts from the field. Wiley connected on a lay-up to stretch the margin to five with 14:03 left in the opening half. However, the Gamecocks would go more than 11 minutes before scoring again.

Eastern scored 14 straight to take a 19-10 lead. Five of EKU’s points during the run came at the free throw line. A lay-up by Cherie White capped the run and put the home squad on top 19-10 with 4:11 to play before intermission.

Candice Carmine’s basket at the 2:54 mark finally put a stop to the JSU scoring drought. Carmine’s basket began an offensive spurt for the Gamecocks. Jacksonville State totaled eight points in the final three minutes and cut the deficit to three, 21-18, on a jumper by Wiley with five seconds left in the first half.

Wiley’s jumper 15 seconds into the second half brought Jacksonville State to within one, 21-20, but the Lady Colonels answered with a 13-2 run to build some separation. Three-pointers by Colyer on consecutive possessions pushed Eastern in front 31-22. A traditional three-point play by Jones capped the run and stretched the lead to double digits, 34-22, with 13:09 to go.

Jacksonville State would get within six, 38-32, on a lay-up by Danielle Vaughn with 7:47 remaining, but a minute later, Colyer’s third trey pushed the lead back to double figures, 43-32.

JSU’s game-ending run began with 10 unanswered capped off by a three-pointer from the right wing by Karisma Boykin, and a fast break lay-up by Wiley, that made it a one-point game, 43-42, with 1:33 showing on the clock.

Next up for the Lady Colonels is a long road trip to face Southeast Missouri State and Eastern Illinois. EKU will try to stop a nine-game losing streak to the Redhawks on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Notes
In the first meeting of the season between the two teams, EKU shot 56.1 percent from the field. On Saturday, the Lady Colonels made just 25.0 percent of their shots against the Gamecocks.

On Thursday, freshman Shakeyia Colyer set a career-high with 17 points against Tennessee Tech. On Saturday, she set a new career-high with 18 points against Jacksonville State and also grabbed a career-best nine rebounds.

EKU threatened the school record for blocked shots in a game. The Lady Colonels blocked 10 shots on Saturday, one short of the record of 11 set on March 9, 1992 against Middle Tennessee State. Brittany Coles led the way with four blocks.

The Lady Colonels averaged 23.5 turnovers in two games last week. In two games this week EKU has averaged 16.5 turnovers per game.

EKU has held 13 of its last 18 opponents to 60 points or less. Eastern has held 18 of its 23 opponents this season to 65 points or less.

Through the first 19 games of the season, EKU attempted more shots than its opponent only five times. However, the Lady Colonels have had more shot attempts than their opponent in each of the past four games.

Eastern Kentucky entered the game ranked 29th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage defense (27.8 percent). Jacksonville State shot 36.4 percent (4-for-11) from three-point range.

Eastern has out-rebounded 15 of its 23 opponents this season.

Eastern Kentucky leads the all-time series 13-4. Eastern is now 7-1 against the Gamecocks in Richmond.