DUBLIN – EKU women's basketball falls to Marist (1-3) by a score of 70-57 on Friday afternoon inside of the National Basketball Arena in Dublin, Ireland to open the MAAC/ASUN Basketball Challenge.
 
With the loss, Eastern Kentucky moves to 2-2 (.500) through the first four matches of the season.
 
Redshirt senior Antwainette Walker recorded her fourth double-double in as many games to kick off the 2022-23 campaign. Against Marist, the Lisle, Ill. product dropped a team leading 19 points and pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds.
 
Sophomore Kalissa Lacy scored 14 points in the loss knocking down a career-high four three-pointers. Friday's game was her second time in double-figure scoring this season off the bench.
 
Eastern Kentucky jumped Marist early in the first quarter at the hot hands of Emma Hacker who drained two threes to open the game. The Colonels held Marist to only nine points in the first 10 minutes, EKU has now held its last two opponents to single digits to start the game.
 
Marist went on a five-point swing out of the first quarter and tightened the Colonel lead to just four, three pointers from Alice Recanati and Lacy extended the EKU lead back to seven heading into the media timeout. With two minutes left before the halftime buzzer, the Foxes dug their way back down nine and took the advantage, a Danielle Rainey three sent EKU to the locker room with a 31-30 lead.
 
Out of the break Marist went on a nine-point run, at the seventh minute Lacy knocked down two more three pointers to bring the EKU deficit to just two. Marist ended the third frame on an 18-10 run and claimed a double-digit lead heading into the final quarter.
 
Walker scored six of EKU's 10 points in the final quarter to record her fourth double-double of the season, heading into Friday's game Walker was one of two players in the country who totaled a double-double through the first three games of the season. With the values added today, Walker is tied with Angel Reese of LSU for the nation lead in double-doubles.
 
With a double-double in her next game, Walker would set the program record for consecutive double-doubles at five.
 
With five assists in today's contest, Recanati has now led the team in assists in 46 games throughout her three-year career.
 
Ariel Kirkwood remains four blocks shy of entering the top-10 in program history in career blocks.
 
EKU prepares for its shortest turnaround of the season tomorrow, as the Colonels face Rider on Saturday, November 19 at 2:30 p.m. ET back inside National Basketball Arena in Dublin to conclude the MAAC/ASUN Dublin Basketball Challenge. Saturday's game will be aired on ESPN+.

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