SPORTS NEWS - Special Jan. 16, 1999 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LADY COLONELS GET BY MOREHEAD STATE

RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team fought back from a 13-point deficit in the second half to earn an Ohio Valley Conference victory over visiting Morehead State Saturday, 76-72.

Down by 13 points (53-40) with 13:26 left in the game, the Lady Colonels battled back. Using a 20-7 run Eastern tied the game at 60-60 with 5:35 remaining on a three-pointer by sophomore forward Charlotte Sizemore. Morehead State quickly regained the lead, but a layup by freshman Zoey Artist at 4:32 gave EKU the lead for good. The Lady Eagles managed to tie the game four times in the final five minutes, but could never regain the lead.

In the first half, Eastern was held scoreless until senior Jennifer King put in a layup to tie the game at 2-2 at the 18:05 mark. Eastern then found baskets hard to come by, as Morehead State went on a 10-0 run to take a 12-2 lead with 16:15 remaining in the first stanza. Eastern came back to cut the Morehead State lead to six, but a 5-0 run by the Lady Eagles put EKU down 20-9 with 8:19 left in the first half. Morehead State took a 31-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Leading the way for Eastern was Sizemore, who came back from an aweful first half (3-of-13 from the field) to hit 4-of-5 in the second half and finish with 17 points, five rebounds and three steals. King ripped down a game-high 10 rebounds and added seven points.

Perhaps the biggest reason for Eastern's win came from two reserves. Both senior Cathy Dues and sophomore Larrya Wall had big nights for the Lady Colonels coming in off the bench. Dues grabbed nine rebounds and scored eight points, many of those coming down the stretch in the clutch. Wall finished with six boards, eight points, four assists and three steals, without committing a turnover.

Overall, the Lady Colonels biggest struggle came at the free throw line. Eastern finished the night hitting only 39.4 percent from the charity stripe (13-of-33). But, Eastern only committed 15 turnovers (only three in the second half), while forcing 22 Lady Eagles miscues to earn the win.

EKU will travel to Tennessee Tech to take on the Golden Eaglettes on Thursday. Tip off is scheduled for 6:45 PM ET. Following that game, Eastern will be back in action on Saturday at Middle Tennessee for a 6:30 PM ET showdown.

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