APSU Women’s Basketball
Clarksville, TN – Assured a spot in the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference women’s basketball championship, Austin Peay women’s basketball team will seek to end the 2010-11 regular-season campaign on a winning note when they host Southeast Missouri in a 5:15pm, Saturday contest at the Dunn Center.
Despite the defensive performance, APSU had an opportunity to tie the game with 30 seconds remaining but committed turnovers on two of its final three possessions.
Senior Brooke Faulkner scored 16 points to lead Austin Peay in scoring for the second consecutive game. Freshman Nicole Olszewski added 14 points. Both Faulkner and Olszewski had five assists as Austin Peay piled up 15 assists – its fifth double-digit assist outing in its last six games.
Southeast Missouri is one of five teams fighting for the final three spots in the tournament and enters the night as the No. 8 seed. The Redhawks visit the Dunn Center fighting for its tournament life following a 58-35 loss at Tennessee State, Thursday. Southeast Missouri’s offense betrayed it in the loss, making just 18.8 percent (9-of-48) of its field goals and committing 27 turnovers.
Sophomore Brittany Harriel led Southeast Missouri with 12 points and eight rebounds, making four of the team’s nine field goals. Sophomore Erika Lane added seven points off the bench and was the only other Redhawks player to make more than one field goal.
Austin Peay won this season’s previous meeting against Southeast Missouri, 65-57, December 2nd, in Cape Girardeau. The Lady Govs had to fend off a second-half Redhawks charge that tied the game 51-51 with five minutes remaining. The Lady Govs went on a 14-6 run from that point, including scoring the game’s final six points.
Sophomore Meghan Bussabarger led the Lady Govs with 20 points, which remains her career high, making 8-of-10 from the field. Sophomore Katie Norman scored 19 points off the bench to lead Southeast Missouri.
Next Up: OVC Women’s Basketball Championship
Austin Peay will be seeded fifth in the upcoming OVC Women’s Basketball Championship and will face the eighth seed, which will be determined following Saturday’s play.
The 5-8 matchup will tip-off at noon, Wednesday with the winner advancing to face the fourth seed – also to be determined – in a noon, Thursday contest.
