{"id":386179,"date":"2026-01-02T05:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T05:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/386179\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T05:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T05:21:09","slug":"eku-womens-basketball-opens-asun-play-with-69-53-win-over-west-georgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/386179\/","title":{"rendered":"EKU Women\u2019s Basketball Opens ASUN Play with 69-53 Win Over West Georgia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>                    &#13;<br \/>\n                        &#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/QueensUpdated2023.png\" alt=\"Queens\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                Next Game:<\/p>\n<p> Queens<\/p>\n<p>1\/3\/2026 | 2:00 PM<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                        ESPN+  &#13;\n                    <\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                        EKU Sports Network&#13;\n                    <\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    Jan. 03 (Sat) \/ 2:00 PM&#13;\n                <\/p>\n<p>                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-opponent-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/QueensUpdated2023.png\" alt=\"Queens\"\/><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                        \u00a0Queens&#13;\n                    <\/p>\n<p>                    <a class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-details-history\" href=\"https:\/\/ekusports.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/opponent-history\/queens\/349\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">History <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                             &#13;<\/p>\n<p>                    RICHMOND, Ky. \u2013 A balanced effort lifted the Eastern Kentucky University women&#8217;s basketball team to a 69-53 victory over West Georgia in its Atlantic Sun Conference opener Thursday night inside Baptist Health Arena.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nWith the win, EKU improved to 10-4 overall and 1-0 in ASUN play, moving to 4-1 all-time in conference openers as a member of the league.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nSophomore guard <a href=\"https:\/\/ekusports.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/liz-freihofer\/11618\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"11618\" target=\"_blank\">Liz Freihofer<\/a> led all scorers with 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting while adding six rebounds. Early in the game, Freihofer knocked down the 100th 3-pointer of her career, becoming the third-fastest player in program history to reach the milestone.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nSenior forward <a href=\"https:\/\/ekusports.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/joseana-vaz\/11712\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"11712\" target=\"_blank\">Joseana Vaz<\/a> followed with 14 points and nine rebounds, narrowly missing a double-double. Senior guard <a href=\"https:\/\/ekusports.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/ndidiamaka-ndukwe\/11623\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"11623\" target=\"_blank\">Ndidiamaka Ndukwe<\/a> rounded out the Colonels in double figures, scoring 11 points on an efficient 5-of-8 shooting performance off the bench.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nEKU controlled the interior throughout the contest, outscoring West Georgia 46-40 in points in the paint. The Colonels also created separation from beyond the arc, knocking down five 3-pointers to the Wolves&#8217; one. Both teams finished the night shooting 41 percent from the floor.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nThe Colonels were sharp defensively, holding their sixth opponent of the season to 60 points or fewer. EKU forced 19 turnovers and limited West Georgia (7-5, 0-1 ASUN) to just 14 percent shooting (1-for-7) from 3-point range.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nEKU set the tone early, opening the game on a quick run and holding the Wolves to 12 points in the first quarter. Freihofer scored six points in the period, including her milestone 3-pointer, while Vaz added four as EKU took a 19-12 lead after one.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nWest Georgia responded in the second quarter behind Asia Donald, who scored nine of her game-high 21 points in the period. Destiny Jones added five points as the Wolves outscored EKU, 17-13, trimming the Colonels&#8217; lead to 32-29 at halftime.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nDefense took over coming out of the break, as EKU limited West Georgia to just six points in the third quarter. Vaz scored six points in the frame, and <a href=\"https:\/\/ekusports.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/ella-bradley\/11715\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"11715\" target=\"_blank\">Ella Bradley<\/a> controlled the glass as the Colonels rebuilt separation and carried a nine-point, 44-35, advantage into the fourth.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nBradley filled the stat sheet with nine points, eight rebounds and four assists, while <a href=\"https:\/\/ekusports.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/kenleigh-woods\/11622\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"11622\" target=\"_blank\">Kenleigh Woods<\/a> chipped in seven points and three assists. West Georgia was led by Donald&#8217;s 21 points and six rebounds, but the Wolves were unable to overcome EKU&#8217;s late surge and the Colonels pulled away with a 16-point, 69-53 victory.<br \/>\nEKU shared the rock well in the win, dishing out 18 assists on 29 made field goals.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nAngeles led the Colonels with five of their 18 total assists, she&#8217;s led the team in assists in eight of the last 10 games, six of those with five or more assists.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nEKU returns to action on Saturday continuing ASUN Conference play at home against Queens University (N.C.). Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.<br \/>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; &#13; &#13; Next Game: Queens 1\/3\/2026 | 2:00 PM &#13; ESPN+ &#13; &#13; EKU Sports Network&#13; &#13;&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-386179","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}