THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Elon 68,
Eastern Kentucky 61
Eastern Illinois 60, @Missouri 58
ELON 68, EASTERN KENTUCKY 61
ELON, N.C. - The Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team rallied from 14 down to tie the game, 57-57, with 4:39 to play, but host Elon held on to defeat the Lady Colonels, 68-61, on Wednesday night in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI).
It was EKU’s first postseason appearance since 2005. The Lady Colonels (18-12) end 2012-13 with 18 wins, the most by an Eastern team since that championship season of 2005.
No. 5 seed EKU fell behind No. 4 Elon (19-13), 47-33, when Ali Ford knocked down a three-pointer for the Phoenix with 12:37 to play in the game. However, Senior Raechele Gray then rallied the Lady Colonels with a pair of three-pointers as EKU went on a 17-6 run over the next five minutes to pull within three, 53-50, with 7:29 on the clock. Three minutes later, senior Jalisa Bryant completed the comeback by knocking down a pair of free throws to make it 57-57.
Elon responded to the tie by reeling off six straight points as foul shots by Zora Stephenson with 2:48 to play made it 63-57. The Phoenix then connected on five more free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Bryant paced EKU with a career-high 19 points in her final game as a Lady Colonel. Senior Alex Jones, meanwhile, scored 11 points and grabbed 11 boards. It was Jones’ 38th career double-double, tying Laphelia Doss for the EKU record in that category.
Kelsey Evans poured in 26 points to lead the Phoenix to the win.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 60, MISSOURI 58
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Senior Ta’Kenya Nixon hit a jump shot with 19 seconds left in the game to give the Eastern Illinois women’s basketball team its first postseason victory in school history, 60-58, over Missouri in the first round of the WNIT on Wednesday night.
Nixon became the school’s all-time scoring leader in the win, surpassing Rachel Galligan (2005-09). She now has 1,907 career points.
After trailing 29-27 at intermission, the Tigers (17-15) started the second half by hitting 66.7 percent of their shot attempts (14-for-21) to regain the lead. Missouri led by as much as eight (47-39) with 12 minutes left in the contest, but the Panther defense would hold the Tigers without a field goal (0-for-5) in the final four minutes of action.
The first half had seven lead changes and seven ties with neither team leading by more than four points. EIU had its largest lead, 19-15, with 8:33 on the clock before taking a 29-27 advantage into the locker room. All told, the contest had 11 lead changes and nine ties.
Nixon paced the Panther offense with 27 points, going 13-for-17 from the field. The senior guard also added five assists, four steals and three rebounds. Classmate Mariah King chipped in 11 points in the win.
The Panthers hit 50 percent of their field-goal attempts (27-for-54) on the night while knocking down both free throw attempts. Missouri finished the day connecting on 40.3 percent of its shots (25-for-62).
EIU was outrebounded by six (35-29) as King and Sabina Oroszova paced the squad with five rebounds each. The Panthers forced 16 Tiger turnovers, converting the miscues into 14 points.
Bri Kulas and Sydney Crafton paced the Tigers with 12 points each. Liz Smith added nine points and a game-high eight rebounds.
EIU will play the winner of the Illinois/Miami (OH) game in second round action on March 23-25.