Box Score

CHARLESTON, W.Va.  (February 20, 2014) - A 20 point second half lead propelled the University of Charleston over Urbana University Thursday night as the Golden Eagles held on for a 82-76 victory at the Eddie King Gymnasium.

The Golden Eagles nearly led wire-to-wire on Thursday night. After falling behind 6-2, the home team blew by the Blue Knights with a steady barrage of jumpers and second chance points. UC led 44-29 at the break thanks to 4 for 5 shooting behind the arc and a 22-12 advantage on the glass. For the game, UC outscored Urbana 21-10 on second chance points.

Kennedy Boggs tried to keep the visitors close. She scored a team-high 10 points in the first half. After the deficit mushroomed to 21 in the second half, the Blue Knights mounted a small comeback. Boggs' first bucket of the second half pulled Urbana within nine at 55-46 with about 13 minutes remaining. The margin hovered around ten points until the home team iced it with an 8-0 run just before the eight-minute mark.

Boggs finished with 15 points before fouling out late. The Golden Eagles kept the conference's second leading scorer, senior guard DeVonyea Johnson, in check for most of the game. Johnson connected on just 5 of 13 shots for a team-high 18 points.

Chyress Lockhart led Charleston in scoring with 15 points in limited action, but got double figure scoring from Nichole Perry, DJ Reddix, and a career high 12 points from Monet Saunders to go along with eight rebounds, six of those on the offensive end.  The free throw stripe continues to haunt Charleston, converting on just 59% for the game but was efficient from the field, hitting on exactly half of their field goal attempts. 

With the win, Charleston closed the gap in the Mountain East Conference standings. The third place Blue Knights saw their game and a half lead trimmed to half a game by the fourth place Golden Eagles. Urbana slips to 16-8 overall and 13-7 in the MEC. UC improves to 16-7 overall and 12-7 in the MEC.

With less than 10 days remaining in MEC play, teams are jockeying for position heading into the conference tournament. The top four squads earn a first round bye and advance to the quarterfinals. Charleston's next game is home Saturday against Notre Dame College, a team UC beat by 11, 76-65, back in January  Saturday's tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m and we will be honoring Tianni Kelly as our lone departing senior.