Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A late rally by Eastern Kentucky came up short in a 63-56 loss to Evansville on the first day of the Aces Winter Classic.  EKU trailed by 11 with less than nine minutes to go but closed to within two points twice in the closing minutes.

The Lady Colonels (2-5) will face Chicago State in the consolation game of the Aces Winter Classic at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday.  CSU lost to Marshall 72-48 in the first game.

Evansville (2-5) took its largest lead, 52-41, on a pair of free throws by Meagan Collins with 8:50 left in the game.  Eastern Kentucky answered with an 11-2 run.  LaRa`e Allen’s basket at the 5:21 mark got the visitors to within two, 54-52.  Two free throws by Marie Carpenter with 4:11 remaining kept the Lady Colonels within a basket, but EKU managed just four more points the rest of the game.

Sophomore Marie Carpenter led Eastern Kentucky with 22 points.  Junior Brittany Coles contributed a career-high 11 rebounds.  Briyana Blair led the Purple Aces with 17 points, 11 of which came at the free throw line.

Eastern committed only 12 turnovers, compared to 17 for Evansville, and out-scored the home team 22-10 off turnovers.  However, the Lady Colonels made only 33 percent of their shots and were out-rebounded by 11.

EKU fell behind 7-2 early before using a 12-0 run to get back in the game.  Raechele Gray accounted for seven of the 12 points – knocking down a long three-pointer and converting two half-court steals into lay-ups.  Her second steal and bucket capped the run and made it 14-7 with 12:24 to go.  The two teams stayed close the rest of the half and went to the locker room tied at 25-25.