KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team took the Tennessee Lady Vols to the wire, but fell in a late fourth quarter surge by a score of 72-63 on Sunday afternoon at Food City Center inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
 
With the loss, EKU falls to 8-2 on the season and suffered its first true road loss of this year.
 
Antwainette Walker led EKU with 24 points, her 36th consecutive game in double figure scoring.  Alice Recanati (12) and Jasmine McGinnis-Taylor (10) were the other two Colonels with 10-or-more points.
 
McGinnis-Taylor had a game-high nine rebounds, tying with Tennessee's Jillian Hollingshead.
 
Tennessee and EKU opened Sunday's game barely scratching the surface on either offensive end.  The Lady Vols claimed the first 10-minute period with a 15-9 lead despite four points from Recanati and three points from Walker.
 
Made two-point shots from Walker and Kailani Lindsey narrowed EKU's deficit to 15-14 with 8:38 left in the first half.  An eight-point Tennessee swing landed both teams to the media timeout with a 23-14, UTK lead.  A McGinnis-Taylor layup and Bridgid Fox three-pointer brought the Colonels to within three.  EKU ended the first half on a 7-3 run, bringing the visiting team's deficit to 36-31.
 
EKU and Tennessee traded basket-for-basket to well under the third quarter media timeout, Walker led the Colonels with seven points in the first six minutes of the period.  A pair of Recanati made free throws sealed a four point, 55-51, game heading into the final quarter.
 
EKU outscored the Lady Vols in both the second and third quarters.
 
Despite a made Recanati three-point shot to open the fourth quarter, which brought the game back to one point for the second time, Tennessee pushed its lead out to nine points at the eight-minute mark and never failed to relinquish the lead.  Walker and McGinnis-Taylor accounted for nine of EKU's 12 points in the final 10 minutes of action.
 
EKU ended Sunday's game shooting 34 percent from the floor, 40 percent from deep, and 69 percent from the free throw line.  The Lady Vols outrebounded EKU by a 47-36 mark, both team's entered play averaging over 40 rebounds per game.
 
The Colonels continue its four-game road swing on Friday against Tennessee State in Nashville, scheduled to tip off around 6:30 p.m. EST in the Gentry Center.  EKU and TSU meet for the first time since 2021, the Colonels have won three of the last four meetings over the Tigers.