RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team dropped its 1998-99 season opener Wednesday night at Kansas State University. The Lady Colonels were defeated by the Wildcats, 102-68.

Eastern opened up the game taking a quick 6-2 lead. KSU quickly closed the gap and eventually took the lead, making a 19-6 run to go up 21-12 with 11:06 remaining in the first half. From there, the Wildcats built a 19-point lead late in the first half and took a 52-33 advantage into the locker room.

The second half proved to be more of the same as Kansas State increased its lead to as much as 36 points. Eastern could get no closer than thE 32-point deficit before the final horn.

Leading the Lady Colonels was sophomore forward Charlotte Sizemore. The 5-11 Harzard, KY, native poured in 18 points and added seven rebounds, two assists and three steals. Junior Olive Hill, KY, native, Marla Gearhart, contributed 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal, while Jennifer King, a 5-11 forward from Savannah, GA, rounded out the Lady Colonels' double-digit scoring with 12 points. King also pulled down seven rebounds.

Eastern found Kansas State's post too much to control as the starting post players for KSU combined to hit 18 buckets in 30 attempts, scoring 41 points. Leading all scorers was center Angie Finkes who contributed 24 points for KSU. The Wildcats also threw a 6-6 center at the Lady Colonels in Olga Firsova. Firsova added 18 points, 10 rebounds, one assist and three blocked shots to help pace Kansas State.

The Lady Colonels will try to turn things around on Saturday evening. EKU will host Miami University in a 7:30 PM contest in McBrayer Arena. Admission to this contest will be free to the public.
 
 

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