Final Stats

JACKSONVILLE – Eastern Kentucky held off a late Jacksonville State (3-11, 0-4 OVC) rally to claim a 79-67 Ohio Valley Conference win on Thursday at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

The Lady Colonels (8-6, 5-0 OVC) held an 18-point lead with 7:48 remaining in the second half following a Sarah Fraser-Jones layup made the score 64-46.

Jacksonville State went on a 12-3 run cut the EKU lead to 69-63 on a Candice Carmine jumper with 2:50 left in the contest.

Another Carmine jumper trimmed the deficit to 73-67 but that was as close as JSU would get as Talisha Davis went six-for-six from the free throw line in the final minute of the game to help EKU stretch the lead back out.

The Lady Colonels shot 50 percent in the first half on its way to a 35-23 lead at halftime. EKU finished the night shooting 56.1 percent overall and 40 percent from beyond the arc.

JSU shot 53.1 percent, including 36 percent on 3-pointers in the second half. The Gamecocks shot 45 percent overall on the afternoon

Davis finished the day with a game-high 29 points, going nine-of-15 from the floor, including five-of-nine from three-point land. Alex Jones added 23 points and tied teammate Michaelea Kleist with six rebounds.

Carmine scored a season-high 18 points to lead four JSU players in double figures. Karisma Boykin and Destiny Lane added 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Brittany Wiley had 11 points. Danielle Beneby led JSU with five rebounds.

Jacksonville State hosts Morehead State on Saturday at 2 p.m. to close out its two-game home stand.