Box Score
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Eastern Kentucky women’s basketball team lost the rebounding battle by 16 and lost the game against Tennessee Tech 56-49 on Thursday night. The Golden Eagles took 19 rebounds off the offensive glass and scored 12 second chance points.
Shakeyia Colyer and
Brittany Coles (Lexington, Ky.) led the Lady Colonels (6-15, 3-9 OVC) with 12 points each. Tacarra Hayes finished with 29 points and 19 rebounds for TTU (17-4, 11-1 OVC).
Tech finished with 52 rebounds compared to 36 for Eastern. EKU shot 31 percent from the field. The Golden Eagles missed all 10 of their three-point attempts while shooting 32 percent from the field.
Eastern Kentucky scored the first basket 26 seconds into the game but the Lady Colonels went almost four minutes without scoring again as Tennessee Tech went in front 6-2. A three-pointer by Coles at the 15:20 mark snapped the EKU scoring drought and cut the deficit to one, 6-5, but that is as close as Eastern would get.
Despite shooting only 27 percent from the field, Tennessee Tech led by seven, 29-22, at halftime. The Golden Eagles out-scored the visitors by 11 at the free throw line and grabbed nine more rebounds in the first half. The Lady Colonels shot 33 percent from the field and went 4-for-8 from three-point range.
Hayes had 18 points and 10 rebounds in the first half.
EKU came out of the locker room after the break and used a 7-2 run to close within two. A pair of free throws by Colyer capped the run and made it a 31-29 game with 17:26 showing on the clock.
The Lady Colonels stayed within striking distance. A pair of makes at the charity stripe by
Jasmine Stovall kept Eastern within two, 43-41, with 9:03 left to play. However, the Golden Eagles responded by scoring the next six points to move out in front by eight with just less than six minutes remaining. EKU got within four with about two minutes to go, but couldn’t get any closer.
The Lady Colonels will conclude their road trip on Saturday at Jacksonville State. Tip-off against the Gamecocks is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.
