Wendy Haun
RICHMOND — There was a definite disconnect with the Lady Colonels during their exhibition game with the University of Findlay on Sunday.
Eastern Kentucky University shot only 24 percent from the floor and played several different lineups, but never found a real offensive rhythm in a 55-36 loss to the Division II Lady Oilers at McBrayer Arena.
“Offensively, we were all out of whack,” EKU coach Chrissy Roberts said. “Everyone’s still trying to find themselves and feel their way around on the offense. We’ll get it together. There were spurts where we were intense and going hard but at this level, you can’t just have spurts.”
Findlay, who suffered through an 80-50 exhibition loss to Bowling Green on Wednesday, had two players who scored in double-figures — Audra Mihalic with 19 and Laura Bardall with 14 — and led the entire duration of the game.
“The whole time you’re on the floor, you have to stay intense,” Roberts said. “It’s not always what happens on the offensive end and we have to get to that mentality that where defense is going to win us basketball games.”
Findlay scored 14 of the first 16 points of the game. EKU scored four minutes into a game off a jumper by Cherie White, then didn’t score again until more than halfway through the first half, off a tip-in by White. The junior led the Lady Colonels with nine points.
“Cherie played well, was able to knock down shots,” Roberts said. “She was one of the few who were aggressive.”
The Lady Colonels didn’t hit double-figures in scoring until three minutes left in the first half off a pair of free throws by Nadia Mossong. EKU trailed at halftime, 24-13.
EKU picked it up slightly in the second half, cutting the Lady Oilers’ lead down to nine halfway through the half, when they only trailed 38-29 off a jumper by freshman Brittany Coles. The Henry Clay product was EKU’s second-leading scorer, with eight points in her college debut.
“Brittany turned it up,” Roberts said. “We have to get her stronger on the defensive end. She’s one of those players who put the ball in the basket.”
The Lady Colonels matched Findlay in rebounds with 39, including 14 offensive boards. They shot 34.6 percent in the second half and only made six percent of their three-pointers during the game.
“We’ll get to where we’re knocking the three-point shot down,” Roberts said. “We’ve got to get to where we’re executing better on the offensive end, using their screens, cutting hard. I don’t think we’re very intent on either end of the floor. It gets you to a 19-point loss.”
EKU will return to action Saturday at Western Kentucky. Game time is set for 8 p.m. in Bowling Green.
“To be honest, I knew it was going to be tough for us,” Roberts said. “I wish I we had another exhibition game where we could iron out some crinkles. The good thing is we have a week before we face Western Kentucky. One of the things we’ve been facing all preseason is we’re going to have to grow up pretty fast.”
