RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team had a chance to tie the game with a three-pointer at the buzzer but came up short taking the Atlantic Sun Conference's No. 1-ranked FGCU Eagles to the wire, 68-65 on Saturday afternoon at Baptist Health Arena.
 
With the loss, EKU (16-9, 6-6 ASUN) returns to .500 in league play with six games left in the regular season.
 
Fifth year forward Jasmine McGinnis-Taylor led the Colonels for the second straight game with a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds.  Following McGinnis-Taylor's performance was freshman guard Liz Freihofer who had 16 points and eight rebounds while senior guard Kaitlyn Costner added 14 points with a team-high four assists.
 
As a team, EKU shot 45 percent from the floor but had a season-low 12 percent from beyond the arch, only connecting on 1-of-9 threes.  On the counter, FGCU (21-3, 12-0 ASUN) shot 40 percent from the floor and made nine threes.
 
EKU opened Saturday's game with a 6-0 lead off made layups by Althea Kara Angeles, Alice Recanati, and a pair of free throws by McGinnis-Taylor.  The Colonels run would prove fruitful ending the frame with a 14-13 lead over the Eagles.
 
Despite the effort in the first, FGCU would storm back and take the second period, 24-15, to go into the halftime break with a 37-29 lead over the Colonels.  The Eagles had five of their nine made three-pointers in the game in the second quarter, propelled by two from Alahna Paige.
 
While losing the second quarter by an eight-point margin, EKU would win the third and fourth quarters by 20-18 and 16-13 – but not enough in the tank to overcome FGCU output in the first half.
 
McGinnis-Taylor had the Colonels' last two made baskets late in the fourth quarter to cut their deficit to just three points.  EKU had the opportunity to tie Saturday's game, forcing the Eagles into a turnover with 10 second left in the fourth quarter.  The Colonels would go on to miss the game-tying attempt with one second left in the game, falling narrowly 68-65.
 
FGCU was led in Saturday's game by Lauryn Taylor who had 14 points and 11 rebounds.  The Eagles had 12 points from Northern Kentucky transfer Khamari Mitchell-Steen, finishing 3-of-6 from the floor.
 
EKU returns to action on Wednesday night in Charlotte taking on Queens University at 7 p.m. ET.  The game can be streamed live on ESPN+.