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RICHMOND, Ky. – Sophomore Shelly Harper and senior Marie Carpenter combined for 41 points to lead the Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team to a 65-61 victory over Missouri State Thursday night in McBrayer Arena.

The Lady Colonels have now won two straight games to improve to 5-5 overall while the Lady Bears fall to 1-6.

EKU trailed by as many as seven points in the second half, 44-37, only to rally with a 10-2 run. Carpenter gave the Lady Colonels their first lead of the second half, 47-46, with a jumper at 9:42. After two more ties and three more lead changes, Carpenter gave Eastern the lead for good thanks to a three-pointer from the left corner with 6:03 left.

Harper, who finished 17-for-21 at the free throw line, hit six charity shots in the final 4:13 to keep the Lady Bears at bay.

Missouri State had the ball and trailed by two points, 63-61, with 17 seconds left, but Kenzie Williams dribbled the ball off her foot and out of bounds with 4.4 ticks remaining.

Carpenter reached the 20-point plateau for the third straight game and sixth time this season with a game-high 22 points. Meanwhile, Harper recorded her second double-double of the season, tallying career bests in both points (19) and rebounds (11). Harper's performance helped EKU out-rebound visiting Missouri State, 52-38, on the night.

Senior Pilar Walker scored nine points and dished out six assists in the win, while freshman Michaela Hunter provided a spark off the bench, scoring seven points and grabbing eight rebounds.

For Missouri State, Tyonna Snow recorded 19 points and seven rebounds while Williams chipped in with 18 points.

This was just the third-ever meeting between the two teams and the first in Richmond. The two teams last met in 2004.

Eastern Kentucky has an extended break off to concentrate on final exams before getting back on the court on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at Longwood.