Box Score

MARTIN, Tenn. – Eastern Kentucky saw its season come to an end with a 51-47 loss tonight to Tennessee-Martin in the first round of the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

The Lady Colonels (12-17) held the Skyhawks (11-18) to 26.8 percent shooting from the field and out-rebounded the home team by 10, but UT Martin held a 24-6 scoring advantage at the free throw line.

Brittany Coles scored a team-high 13 for EKU. Michaelea Kleist and Alex Jones contributed nine rebounds each. Darnisha Lyles registered a double-double for UTM, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds. LaBrica Ward added 12 points and Alecia Weatherly scored 11.

The two teams began the game by exchanging runs. UT Martin scored the first seven points of the game, but then Eastern scored seven unanswered. The Skyhawks rolled off four straight, but the Lady Colonels answered with four consecutive points of their own. After 10 minutes of play, the game was tied 11-11.

Coles knocked down three-pointers on back-to-back possessions in the final two and a half minutes to help EKU take a 23-18 lead into the locker room at the break. UT Martin did not score in the final two minutes of the first half.

The Skyhawks made only 3-of-20 attempts from the field in the first half, but they kept the game close by out-scoring the Lady Colonels 11-3 at the free throw line. UTM also scored eight points off nine Eastern Kentucky turnovers.

Coles picked up where she left off in the first half. The freshman nailed a trey from the right wing to extend the lead to eight. After going in front 28-22 on a lay-up by Colette Cole at the 16:54 mark, Eastern went almost four and a half minutes without scoring and the Skyhawks scored nine unanswered points. A three-pointer by Cali Cupples capped the run and put the home team in front 31-28.

However, UTM suffered a scoring drought of its own. After a pair of free throws by Lyles at the 11:08 mark, the Skyhawks didn’t score for almost six minutes. A jumper and a pair of free throws by Nadia Mossong helped EKU take the lead back. A jumper by Ashley Pritchett with 6:26 left to play polished off a 7-0 Lady Colonel run and put the visitors up by three, 37-34.

Tennessee-Martin tied the score twice before taking a 45-42 lead on a three-pointer by Weatherly with 58 seconds left. Two free throws by Ward stretched the lead to five. A three by Coles with 30 seconds left stopped a three and a half minute scoring drought for the Lady Colonels. UTM made 4-of-6 free throws in the final 30 seconds to hold on for the victory.

Notes
Today’s game was the third meeting between Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee-Martin in the OVC tournament. The Lady Colonels won in 1995 and the Skyhawks earned the victory in 1999.

EKU is now 13-19 all-time in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. The Lady Colonels fell to 2-13 against higher seeded teams in the OVC tournament.

Eastern Kentucky is now 10-10 overall, 5-7 in first round games and 1-5 in first round road games since the OVC adopted the current tournament format in 1997.

Eastern freshman Alex Jones needed 10 points and eight rebounds to become only the fifth Lady Colonel in program history to score 350 or more points and grab 250 or more rebounds in the same season. She finished with seven points and nine boards.

EKU has held 15 of its last 24 opponents to 60 points or less. Eastern has held 21 of its 29 opponents this season to 65 points or less.

Eastern Kentucky has out-rebounded 19 of its 29 opponents this season.

EKU leads the all-time series with UT Martin 30-12. The Lady Colonels had won seven straight in the series before losing the past two meetings. Eastern is now 12-9 against the Skyhawks in Martin.