Box Score

CAPE GIRARDEU, Mo. – Eastern Kentucky scored the first nine points of the game, shot 70 percent for much of the first half, built a 20-point second half lead, and then withstood a rally by Southeast Missouri for an 82-72 win on Thursday.
 
A 10-1 midway through the third quarter allowed EKU to take a 21-point lead.  Jayla Johnson scored four and Alice Recanati contributed three during the run.  Recanati's free throw with 3:49 left in the third quarter pushed the Colonels in front 61-40.
 
Southeast answered with a run of its own, out-scoring Eastern Kentucky 21-4 into the fourth quarter.  Six straight points by Tesia Thompson, including a lay-up with 5:43 left in the game, capped the run and made it a four-point game, 65-61.  Taelour Pruitt's three-pointer with 1:20 remaining in the contest got SEMO within three, 75-72.
 
The Redhawks didn't score again and EKU made 7-of-8 at the free throw line from that point to secure the win.
 
Freshman Kendall Wingler had a team-high 20 points to go along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Colonels (8-12, 7-9 OVC).  Johnson scored 14 points.  Recanati and Alysa Jordan both added 13 points.  Bria Bass contributed 11 points and a team-best six rebounds.
 
EKU shot 52 percent from the field for the game and 84 percent at the free throw line.  Eastern went 27-of-32 at the stripe and out-scored SEMO by nine at the line.
 
Thompson finished with a game-high 31 points for the Redhawks (13-9, 11-6 OVC).
 
EKU scored the first nine points of the game, eight coming from Wingler.  The Redhawks didn't score their first points until the 6:37 mark.  The Colonels led by nine on six more occasions before pushing the advantage to double figures.
 
Eastern Kentucky made 16-of-23 from the field to start the game for a 70 percent shooting clip.  A jumper by Jordan made it 31-24 at the end of the first quarter.  A Wingler jumper made it 37-28 early in the second.  Moments later, a free throw from Jordan pushed the lead to double figures for the first time, 38-28.  A put-back by Bass capped the hot shooting start and gave the visitors a 15-point margin, 45-30.  SEMO went through as stretch of nearly five minutes without making a field goal.
 
Four straight from the charity stripe – two from Wingler and two from Jordan – allowed EKU to stretch the lead to 18, 51-33, with 1:28 left in the second quarter.  The Colonels shot 62 percent from the field in the first half (16-of-26) and made 4-of-8 from three-point range.
 
Southeast Missouri scored the final four points of the first half and the first two of the second to get within 12, 51-39, before the big Eastern Kentucky run stretched the margin to 21.
 
The Colonels will conclude a stretch of five straight road games at Tennessee-Martin on Saturday.  Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.