RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team opened with a 10-0 run, helping pave the way to an Ohio Valley Conference victory Saturday night over visiting Austin Peay, 88-70.

The first half was a game of runs. After Eastern's 10-0 run, the Lady Govs went on an 8-2 run to cut EKU's lead to 12-8. Eastern then responded with an 8-0 run. That made the score 20-8 in favor of EKU with 12:26 left in the first half. With 6:31 remaining in the half, Eastern held a 29-20 lead. The Lady Colonels then used a 14-7 run to close the first half and take a 43-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.

As a team, the Lady Colonels shot 57.6 percent from the floor in the first half. Leading the way in the first half was sophomores Charlotte Sizemore and Candice Finley. Each went to the locker room shooting six of eight from the field. Sizemore had 13 points, while Finley took 14 points into the break.

"Candice and Charlotte really stepped up tonight," said EKU head coach Larry Joe Inman.

The second half was much closer as EKU only outscored the Lady Govs by two points. But, the lead Eastern had already built at the half was too much for Austin Peay to overcome.

Eastern outrebounded the Lady Govs, 49-35, including 35-23 off the offensive glass.

Sizemore finished the night with 23 points, seven assists and five rebounds, while Finley scored a career-high 22 points and pulled in six rebounds.

Also playing well for Eastern were seniors Cathy Dues and Shannon Browning. Dues added seven points and a game-high nine rebounds. Browning contributed nine points and five boards.

"When I look at the stats, I am proud of our team defense and offense," said Inman. "We played good defense and good offense. On offense, we were unselfish and had strong performances from both our post and perimeter players. From top to bottom, we played a very good game."

The Lady Colonels improve to 7-6 overall and 4-2 in the OVC. Eastern will travel to Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday to take on the Skyhawks in a 6:30 PM EST contest.

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