<  Become A Fan Of Lady Colonel Basketball On Facebook


Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky’s women’s basketball team committed 24 turnovers in a 66-55 loss to Southern Illinois Edwardsville on Thursday night at McBrayer Arena.  The Cougars turned those turnovers into 24 points.

The Lady Colonels’ loss, coupled with a victory by Murray State, means EKU must beat Eastern Illinois on Saturday and the Racers must lose at Tennessee Tech in order for the Lady Colonels to earn the No. 4 seed and a first round bye in next week’s OVC tournament.

SIU Edwardsville (17-9, 11-4 OVC) was led by Katie Hempen with 19 points.  Michaela Herrod finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds.  Marie Carpenter led EKU (12-14, 7-8 OVC) with 20 points.  Alex Jones added 15 points and seven rebounds.

A pair of free throws by Jones with 11:53 left in the game, kept Eastern Kentucky within three, 39-36.  However, the Cougars used a 12-2 run to build a 13-point margin.  Hempen’s lay-up capped the run and made it a 51-38 game with 8:21 remaining.

EKU answered with a 13-5 run of its own to close the gap to three, 56-53, with 2:39 left.  That is as close as the Lady Colonels would get.  Raven Berry scored on a lay-up on the other end, Eastern turned the ball over again, and Berry hit a jumper to put the visitors back up by seven, 60-53.

SIUE shot 57 percent in the second half, 44 percent for the game and out-scored Eastern by 12 at the free throw line.  EKU shot 37 percent from the field.

The Lady Colonels will conclude their 2011-12 regular season schedule at home on Saturday against Eastern Illinois.  Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.  “Senior Day” activities will be held before the game.