EKU Women's Basketball Falls to Florida A&M, 64-58

SOUTHERN MISS THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT AT HATTIESBURG, MS

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi  –  The Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team fell to Florida A&M, 64-58, in its opening game of the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday night at Reed Green Coliseum.

EKU (3-4) led by as many as 12 points in the second half, but FAMU (5-1) went on 15-0 run and took the lead, 55-54, when Taneka Rubin hit a layup with 6:29 remaining in the game.

The Lady Colonels trailed by only one point, 57-56, and had a chance to retake the lead with 1:20 on the clock, but sophomore Shelly Harper failed to convert a layup under the basket.

FAMU's Jasmine Grice sank six free throws in the final minute of play to seal the win for the Lady Rattlers.

Harper finished with a career-high 16 points in the loss, three of which came on her first-career three-pointer in the first half. Senior Marie Carpenter also scored 16 points, sinking 4-of-11 from behind the arc.

Two Lady Colonels, sophomore Miranda Maples and freshman Nicole Bowers, grabbed 10 boards each and led EKU to a 46-39 rebounding advantage over FAMU.

EKU shot just 22.2 percent (8-of-36) from the field in the second half compared to 50 percent (14-of-28) in the first half.

Grice led all players in the game with 25 points.

FAMU led for most of the first half and held a 25-20 advantage with 5:44 on the clock. However, a three-pointer by Carpenter from the top of the key sparked the EKU offense as the Lady Colonels ended the half on a 16-6 run. A jumper in the lane by Carpenter with four seconds on the clock sent EKU into the locker room at halftime up by five, 36-31.

EKU continued to push the tempo in the first eight minutes of the second half, as Carpenter knocked down two more three-pointers and freshman Mariah Massengill connected on a triple of her own to give the Lady Colonels their largest lead of the game, 54-42, with 12:04 remaining.

The Lady Rattlers, however, exploded on a 15-0 run at that point and never trailed again.

EKU will play Mississippi Valley State in the tournament's consolation game on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

COURTESY EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS