By Wade Neely, Clarksville Sports Network
Clarksville, TN – Playing their third game in four nights, the Austin Peay women’s basketball, the Austin Peay women’s basketball entered Wednesday night’s game against Alabama A&M looking to end 2011 on a positive note.
But, for the second time in two nights, the Lady Govs found themselves looking up at the wrong end of a Dunn Center scoreboard, falling to the Lady Bulldogs 80-68 in their final non-conference contest of the season.
“I didn’t see that kind of emotion and aggression and the will that you need to win a basketball game,” Lady Govs coach Carrie Daniels said.The Lady Govs were forced to alter their game plan just 11 seconds into the contest when Meghan Bussabarger suffered an apparent back injury.
After holding an early lead for the second consecutive night, the Lady Govs found themselves trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, largely because of rebounding.
Forced to play a smaller lineup due to Bussabarger’s injury, the Lady Govs struggled to combat the length of the Lady Bulldogs on both offense and defense.
As a team, Alabama A&M outrebounded the Lady Govs 45-22 and outscored them 36-10 in the paint.
“They definitely really hurt us on the inside with their post presence,” Daniels said. “Points in the paint, rebounding, they got it inside every way possible and we just did not do the job we needed to do.”
After a back-and-forth opening 10 minutes, the game plan appeared to change for the Lady Govs when Whitney Hanley picked up an early second foul.
With Hanley on the bench, the Lady Govs were outscored 21-16 over the final 10 minutes before halftime.
To make matters worse, Hanley returned just before halftime and almost immediately picked up her third personal foul.
“It was a little disappointing,” Daniels said. “But at the same time things like that happen. But when players got into foul trouble it obviously did take away some of our depth.”
After trimming a 37-29 halftime deficit to 55-53, the Lady Govs seemed to lose their legs and energy over the game’s final 10-and-a-half minutes and were outscored 25-15.
“The hole that we dug tonight wasn’t as bad as some of the ones we had in previous games,” Daniels said. “But I thought that overall we did a better job of coming out and being prepared.”
Offensively, the Lady Govs relied heavily on an inside-out combination from Jasmine Rayner and Whitney Hanley.
Rayner turned another solid performance, scoring 21 points – 11 of which came from the free throw line to lead the Lady Govs.
The senior entered Wednesday’s game averaging less than 20 minutes a game, but played 39-of-40 minutes Wednesday as a result of Bussabarger’s injury.
“We made it tough on ourselves tonight,” Rayner said. “We would have liked to have Meghan out there during those dead spots but obviously her health comes first. I think the team is excited about taking a bit of a break before conference play.”
As a team, the Lady Govs shot 21-of-55 from the floor, but converted 20-of-22 free throw attempts.
Hanley’s 4-for-4 night at the line set the school’s all-time mark for consecutive free throws made (25).
Despite an announcement to Lady Govs fans on hand, Daniels said she wasn’t sure if Hanley realized her accomplishment during the course of the game.
Leslie Martinez added 11 points in the loss for the Lady Govs, who will now enjoy a few days off before opening OVC play December 29th at Tennessee State and December 31st at Morehead State.
“Right now I want the team to go home and take a break to get some time away,” Daniels said. “You don’t want to take too much time off, but at the same time I don’t think the X’s and O’s are what’s beating us. We just need to find a way to keep our momentum and intensity at a high level for the entire game.”
Photo Gallery
Box Score
Alabama A&M vs Austin Peay
12/21/11 5:15pm at Clarksville, TN. (Dunn Center)
Alabama A&M 80
Total | 3-point | Rebounds | ||||||||||||
## | Player | p | fgm-fga | fgm-fga | ftm-fta | off-def | tot | pf | tp | a | to | blk | stl | min |
24 | SANDERS, Jasmine | f | 8-11 | 0-0 | 3-8 | 7-1 | 8 | 1 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 32 |
55 | ROBERTSON, NaDra | c | 9-14 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 5-3 | 8 | 5 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 23 |
22 | DAVIS, Shundray | g | 1-4 | 0-0 | 7-8 | 1-3 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 23 |
23 | TOBAR, Whiquitta | g | 7-15 | 1-2 | 11-12 | 1-4 | 5 | 3 | 26 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 37 |
25 | ONEAL, Danielle | g | 1-4 | 0-1 | 1-4 | 1-4 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
03 | STRICKLAND, Alyssa | – | 1-5 | 1-4 | 2-2 | 0-4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 30 |
12 | SIPPIAL, Taylor | – | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
20 | FAUNTLEROY, Kiersten | – | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
33 | WILLIAMS, Gabrielle | – | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
50 | LOWERY, Jessica | – | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
TM | TEAM | – | – | – | – | 1-3 | 4 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
Totals………….. | – | 27-55 | 2-7 | 24-34 | 18-27 | 45 | 20 | 80 | 12 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 200 | |
49.1% | 28.6% | 70.6% | ||||||||||||
Team summary: | FG | 3FG | FT | |||||||||||
1st Half: | 14-29 | 2-4 | 7-12 | |||||||||||
48.3% | 50.0% | 58.3% | ||||||||||||
2nd Half: | 13-26 | 0-3 | 17-22 | |||||||||||
50.0% | 0.0% | 77.3% |
Austin Peay 68
Total | 3-point | Rebounds | ||||||||||||
## | Player | p | fgm-fga | fgm-fga | ftm-fta | off-def | tot | pf | tp | a | to | blk | stl | min |
14 | MARTINEZ, Leslie | f | 4-8 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 33 |
43 | BUSSABARGER, Meghan | f | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+ |
03 | BULEY, Shira | g | 1-4 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 1-0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
05 | OLSZEWSKI, Nicole | g | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 40 |
12 | HANLEY, Whitney | g | 6-17 | 2-7 | 4-4 | 0-2 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 29 |
00 | RAYNER, Jasmine | – | 5-12 | 0-0 | 11-12 | 4-2 | 6 | 4 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 |
04 | STAINBACK, Kristen | – | 1-4 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
42 | HILL, Kaitlyn | – | 0-2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
44 | OLSZEWSKI, Shelby | – | 1-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 20 |
TM | TEAM | – | – | – | – | 3-1 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Totals………….. | – | 21-55 | 6-14 | 20-22 | 8-14 | 22 | 25 | 68 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 200 | |
38.2% | 42.9% | 90.9% | ||||||||||||
Team summary: | FG | 3FG | FT | |||||||||||
1st Half: | 9-27 | 4-7 | 7-8 | |||||||||||
33.3% | 57.1% | 87.5% | ||||||||||||
2nd Half: | 12-28 | 2-7 | 13-14 | |||||||||||
42.9% | 28.6% | 92.9% |
Score by Periods | 1st | 2nd | Total | |
Alabama A&M | 37 | 43 | 80 | Record: (5-4) |
Austin Peay | 29 | 39 | 68 | Record: (3-10) |
Points in the paint-AAMU 36,APSU 10. Points off turnovers-AAMU 15,APSU 10. |
2nd chance points-AAMU 13,APSU 5. Fast break points-AAMU 4,APSU 0. |
Bench points-AAMU 5,APSU 28. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-4 times. |
Last FG-AAMU 2nd-02:24, APSU 2nd-01:15. |
Largest lead-AAMU by 12 2nd-02:24, APSU by 3 1st-16:51. |
Officials: Troy Winders (R), Cheryl Wright, Yvonne Hall Technical fouls: Alabama A&M-STRICKLAND, Alyssa. Austin Peay-None. Attendance: 840 Copies in a Flash APSU Player of the Game: Jasmine Rayner |