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RICHMOND, Ky. – In a battle of the top two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference East Division, the Eastern Kentucky University’s women’s basketball team took advantage of a late Tennessee Tech scoring drought to secure a 61-55 win on Monday night at McBrayer Arena.

The win puts Eastern alone in first place in the East Division and one game behind Eastern Illinois for the best record in the conference.

The Lady Colonels (16-8, 10-3 OVC) started the second half with an 11-2 run to turn a three-point lead into a 12-point advantage.  Senior Brittany Coles got it started with a jumper and a three-pointer, EKU’s eighth trey of the game.  Twenty-four of Eastern’s first 35 points came off three-pointers.

Senior Alex Jones scored the next six points to cap the run.  Her basket with 15:38 left in the game gave Eastern Kentucky its largest lead, 41-29.

Jones came up one point shy of a double-double, finishing with nine points and a game-best 15 rebounds.

The Golden Eagles (15-11, 9-4 OVC) did not go away easy.  An 8-0 run by the visitors quickly got the game back to a six-point margin.  Baskets by Diamond Henderson and Jala Harris got Tennessee Tech within three, 49-46, with 7:54 remaining.

Moments later senior Raechele Gray found junior Marie Carpenter streaking to the basket on a fast break.  Carpenter’s lay-up began a stretch of seven straight for EKU.  After the bucket by Harris, Tech went 4:23 without scoring again. 

Gray’s three-pointer capped the Lady Colonel run and stretched the lead to 10, 56-46.  Tennessee Tech never got closer than five the rest of the way.

Carpenter had 18 points.  Coles finished with 15 points and eight boards.  Gray had five assists and no turnovers in 33 minutes of action.

Henderson led the Golden Eagles with 17 points.  T’Keyah Williams had 14 points and seven rebounds.

Both teams shot 38 percent from the field.  EKU went 9-for-20 (45 percent) from behind the arc while Tech made just 3-of-14 (21 percent).  The Lady Colonels turned 17 TTU turnovers into 22 points while the Golden Eagles scored just four points off 12 Eastern turnovers.

In the first half, the Lady Colonels were out-scored by 10 in the paint but knocked down seven shots from behind the arc.  EKU led by six after a three-pointer by senior LaRa`e Allen with 1:44 left.  Tennessee Tech made its lone three-pointer of the first half in the final minute and trailed by three, 30-27, at the break.

The Lady Colonels return to action on Saturday when Austin Peay comes to McBrayer Arena.  Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.  Senior Day activities will be held before the game.