Box Score

CINCINNATI, Ohio – Eastern Kentucky had Xavier on the ropes, but couldn’t land the knockout blow in a 66-61 season-opening loss on Saturday at the Cintas Center.

The Musketeers (1-0) are receiving votes in both preseason polls.  Xavier is 31st in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and is 36th the Associated Press Poll.

Freshman Carla Booth led the Lady Colonels (0-1) with 15 points.  The Martin County, Ky., native knocked down four second half three-pointers.  Junior Brittany Coles contributed 13 points.

Tyeasha Moss led Xavier with 22 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

A free throw early in the second half had the Lady Colonels down by only two, 30-28.  The Musketeers pushed back out in front by six three times before a three-pointer by Ashley Wanninger at the 11:24 mark stretched the margin to nine, 43-34. 

EKU did not allow Xavier to run away with it.  Coles responded at the other end with a three-pointer and then a lay-up.  Booth’s first trey of the game cut the deficit to one, 43-42, with 9:58 to play.  Another Booth three-pointer tied it, 47-47, with 7:57 on the clock.  After a Musketeer miss, Jalisa Bryant gave Eastern the lead with a lay-up.

A third three-pointer by Booth gave the Lady Colonels their final lead of the game, 53-52, with 4:44 left to play.  A three-pointer by Moss turned a one-point lead into a two-point deficit.  Two free throws by Shatyra Hawkes put the Musketeers on top by six, 61-55, with 37 seconds to go.  Coles nailed a three-pointer at the other end with 22 ticks left to cut the XU lead in half but EKU couldn’t come up with the steal on the defensive end and was forced to foul.

Xavier made 5-of-6 free throw attempts in the final 19 seconds to secure the victory.  While the Musketeers went 21-for-31 from the charity stripe for the game, the Lady Colonels missed eight of their 17 attempts.

Eastern Kentucky turned the ball over 19 times, but only gave it away twice in the final 12 minutes of the game.  The Musketeers turned it over 11 times and held a 16-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

EKU limited Xavier to a 2-for-11 start from the field through the first eight and a half minutes of the game.  A long three-pointer from the top of the key by Raechele Gray capped the fast start and gave the Lady Colonels an 18-9 lead.

The Musketeers began to heat up with six straight to close the margin to three.  A lay-up and free throw by Moss gave Xavier its first lead, 24-23, with 3:25 to play in the first half.  Moss’s three-pointer with 13 seconds on the clock set the halftime score, 30-27.

The Lady Colonels will host their second and final exhibition game on Tuesday when Lincoln Memorial University visits McBrayer Arena.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.  EKU’s next regular season contest is at home on Thursday against No. 9 Louisville.