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Game Notes

RICHMOND, Ky. – After snatching an overtime road victory in its conference opener last week, the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team will begin a three-game Ohio Valley Conference home stand on Saturday when Tennessee State University visits McBrayer Arena.

Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.  The live radio broadcast of the game is available in the Richmond area on WEKY 1340 AM, and can be heard worldwide on EKUSports.com.  A live video broadcast of the contest is available on OVCSports.TV.

EKU (5-6, 1-0 OVC) and Tennessee State (5-8, 1-0 OVC) are two of three teams in the conference that have started the league slate with a victory.

In its last game, Raechele Gray’s two free throws with 10.7 seconds left in overtime secured an 80-76 victory for Eastern at Jacksonville State.  JSU scored the first four points of overtime before EKU went on an 11-2 run.  A lay-up by Jade Barber with 1:36 to play gave Eastern the lead for good, 73-72.  A jumper with 14.7 seconds to go kept the Gamecocks within striking distance, 78-76.  However, Gray’s two makes at the charity stripe sealed the win.

Gray led Eastern Kentucky with 18 points.  Marie Carpenter and Alex Jones each finished with 15.  Carpenter went 8-for-8 from the free throw line.  Jones grabbed 10 rebounds for her 20th career double-double.

Saturday’s game will feature two of the top three-point defensive teams in the conference.  EKU leads the league by limiting opponents to 25 percent shooting from three-point range.  Tennessee State (31.1 percent) is third.  In their last three games the Lady Colonels have limited their opponents to 16 percent (8-for-50) three-point shooting percentage.  EKU has made 40 percent (16-for-40) during that same time.

Five current Lady Colonels have played against Tennessee State.  Carpenter is averaging 16 points and 5.5 rebounds against her home-town school.  Jones is averaging 13 points and 9.5 rebounds against the Lady Tigers.  EKU and Tennessee State will meet for the 48th time on Saturday.  Eastern holds a 32-15 advantage in the series, but TSU has won six of the last eight.  The Lady Colonels are 21-3 against the Lady Tigers in Richmond, including last season’s double overtime victory.

In that last meeting, Eastern scored the first 10 points of the second overtime on its way to a 91-86 victory.  Brittany Coles capped the 10-0 run with a three-pointer and a jumper and finished with a career-best 26 points.  Carpenter began the second overtime with a lay-up and then connected on a three-pointer.  Coles followed with her trey and a jumper to give the Lady Colonels an 85-75 lead.  They would need every bit of it. 

The Lady Tigers didn’t concede.  TSU rolled off eight straight to close within two, 85-83, with 31 seconds left in the second overtime.  Carpenter finally put an end to the visitor run with a pair of free throws at the 29 second mark.  Shakeyia Colyer made all four of her free throw attempts in the final 12 seconds to secure the victory.

Free throw shooting plagued both teams throughout the contest.  The Lady Colonels made 24-of-44 (55 percent) from the charity stripe.  The Lady Tigers went 8-for-18 (44 percent) from the line.

Carpenter finished with 25 points.  Jones recorded her 14th career double-double, finishing with 17 points and 15 rebounds.  Eastern Kentucky had 20 assists on its 28 made field goals and only turned the ball over 16 times, compared to 27 for TSU.  The Lady Tigers were led by Tayla Foster and Kim Haynes with 20 points each.  Meredith Stafford added 19 points.  Foster and Stafford each had nine rebounds.

Tennessee State snapped a three-game losing streak with a 95-81 victory at home against Austin Peay on Thursday.  The Lady Tigers scored 95 points against the Lady Govs despite shooting only 38 percent from the field and 27 percent from behind the arc.  TSU earned the victory by making 35-of-48 attempts from the free throw line, including 32-of-40 in the second half.  Tennessee State out-scored APSU by 20 at the free throw line and out-rebounded the visitors by 12.

Foster, a 5-foot-10 sophomore guard/forward, led TSU with 22 points.  Jasmin Shuler contributed 21 points.  Destiney Gaston, a 6-foot-3 center, had 16 points and 10 rebounds.  For the season, Shuler leads the team with an average of 15.3 points per game.  Foster contributes 10 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.  Gaston is averaging 8.8 points and 4.9 rebounds while playing 17.4 minutes per game.