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Austin Peay Lady Govs Basketball defeat the Southeast Missouri Redhawks to clinch Ohio Valley Conference Tournament berth on Senior Night

APSU Sports: Austin Peay Women’s Basketball

Clarksville Sports NetworkClarksville, TN – After a season filled with “must-wins” and challenges, the Austin Peay Lady Govs entered Saturday night’s game against Southeast Missouri faced with their biggest “must-win” of the season.

A play-in game for a berth in next week’s Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Championships in Nashville.

And, compounded by the pressure of playing on Senior Night, the Lady Govs turned to one of their two seniors for an answer as Whitney Hanley scored 19 points in her final game in the Dunn Center and powered the Lady Govs to an 88-84 win over the Southeast Missouri Redhawks.

Whitney Hanley drives for a shot in the Lady Govs game against Southeast Missouri Saturday night. The Lady Govs defeated SEMO 88-84 to clinch a berth in next week's OVC Tournament. Austin Peay Women's Basketball.
Whitney Hanley drives for a shot in the Lady Govs game against Southeast Missouri Saturday night. The Lady Govs defeated SEMO 88-84 to clinch a berth in next week's OVC Tournament. Austin Peay Women's Basketball.

“I’ve said before that this team has persevered,” Austin Peay Lady Govs Head Coach Carrie Daniels said. “There were a lot of times when they could have hung their heads but they didn’t. Right now it’s tournament time. If you can’t get excited about that don’t get on the bus to Nashville.”

Hanley was dominant from the start, helping the Lady Govs sprint out to a quick 4-0 lead that they would never relinquish.

When the Redhawks did put together runs midway through the first and second halves, it was Hanley’s sharp shooting that kept the Lady Govs in it.

Whitney Hanley“Shooting two footers it makes me really upset when I miss them because you’re shooting so close to basket,” a smiling Hanley said.

Hanley furthered her legacy as a member of the Lady Govs with a jumper with 1:08 to play in the first half that moved her into sole possession of fourth-place on the school’s all-time scoring list, passing former Lady Govs standout Ashley Haynes (1,497 points).

Hanley also surpassed the 1,500-point mark just over four minute into the second when half when her 3-pointer put the Lady Govs up 45-36.

Jasmine RaynerAnd even though the Lady Govs managed to hang on for the victory, Hanley’s career on the Dave Loos Court came to an abrupt end when she picked up her fifth foul with 3:48 remaining in regulation.

“It’s not the way I wanted to go out but I wanted to support my teammates,” Hanley said. “It’s fine. We’re going to Nashville and that’s all I wanted.”

As Hanley made her way to the bench, the Dunn Center crowd gave a standing ovation as the two-time OVC champion shared a long hug with Daniels.

“It’s Whitney,” Daniels said. “It’s what she’s done for us. She’s continued to lead us and make the plays when we’ve needed them. It definitely wasn’t the way we wanted to honor her coming out of the game but unfortunately it happened.”

Despite Hanley’s contributions, however, the Lady Govs also received major contributions from several underclassmen – as well as a fellow senior.

Also playing her final game in the Dunn Center, Jasmine Rayner returned to the starting lineup for the first time since the Lady Govs traveled to SEMO on January 30th, scoring four of the Lady Govs first eight points.

Meghan BussabargerRayner re-entered the game to replace Hanley, but would leave to a standing ovation of her own, checking out of the game with just under three minutes left in the game.

“It was great for those two that have given so much to this program for the past four years,” Daniels said. “It was great for them to have that limelight when they come off the floor and to share with their team and the fans. I think it was big for them to share that moment.”

Meghan Bussabarger also came up big for the Lady Govs, scoring seven of her 13 points in the second half as the Lady Govs saw their second-half lead balloon to 17 with just over four minutes to play.

Shelby OlszewskiShelby Olszewski also had a solid night, scoring a career-high 17 points to go along with four assists.

Bianca Beck finished with 18 points to lead the Redhawks (7-22, 4-12), who made a late surge, closing the game on a 23-11 run over the game’s final 1:45 to make the final score much closer than the game played.

With the win, the Lady Govs clinched the No. 8 seed in next week’s tournament, earning a rematch with Morehead State – a team the Lady Govs defeated 88-81 in overtime on February 18th.

Despite their recent success against the Eagles, Daniels said she wasn’t overly concerned about tournament pairings.

“We’re there,” Daniels said. “Anybody we go up against is going to be one possession at a time and that’s how we’ve got to face it.”

“We’re excited to be there. “I’m excited for us to get to Nashville and prepare them for this next game. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.”

Photo Gallery

 

Box Score

Southeast Missouri vs Austin Peay
2/25/12 -5:15pm at Clarksville, TN. (Dunn Center)

Southeast Missouri 84

Total 3-point Rebounds
## Player p fgm-fga fgm-fga ftm-fta off-def tot pf tp a to blk stl min
04 HARRIEL, Brittany f 5-10 1-1 4-4 1-6 7 2 15 0 2 1 1 35
40 ROBERTS, Bailie f 4-8 0-0 2-2 0-5 5 5 10 2 3 1 1 38
15 SHIFFER, Courtney c 3-6 0-0 0-0 2-1 3 5 6 0 1 1 0 13
01 BECK, Bianca g 6-10 1-1 5-9 0-1 1 3 18 6 3 0 0 37
21 EVANS, Karley g 4-6 3-4 4-4 1-5 6 3 15 4 3 1 0 32
02 ROSADO, Yelena 2-2 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 2 4 1 0 0 0 1
11 BRADSHAW, Allyson 0-3 0-3 0-0 0-1 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 18
20 FIELDS, Shelah 5-7 2-2 1-1 0-1 1 3 13 1 2 0 0 21
32 MACK, Patricia 1-2 0-0 1-1 1-1 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 5
TM TEAM 2-2 4 2
Totals………….. 30-54 7-11 17-21 7-24 31 26 84 15 18 4 3 200
55.6% 63.6% 81.0%
Team summary: FG 3FG FT
1st Half: 12-27 2-4 4-6
44.4% 50.0% 66.7%
2nd Half: 18-27 5-7 13-15
66.7% 71.4% 86.7%

 

Austin Peay 88

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 2-7 0-1 1-2 2-7 9 2 5 3 3 1 2 37
00 RAYNER, Jasmine c 3-5 0-0 2-3 2-4 6 1 8 0 1 0 0 13
05 OLSZEWSKI, Nicole g 5-7 2-3 1-4 0-3 3 2 13 5 2 0 1 37
12 HANLEY, Whitney g 8-14 3-6 0-0 0-1 1 5 19 3 1 0 3 31
44 OLSZEWSKI, Shelby g 4-9 2-4 7-10 1-0 1 4 17 4 2 0 2 36
03 BULEY, Shira 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2
04 STAINBACK, Kristen 2-5 1-3 8-10 0-0 0 0 13 1 0 1 0 14
42 HILL, Kaitlyn 0-1 0-0 0-0 1-0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 6
43 BUSSABARGER, Meghan 5-9 0-1 3-3 2-2 4 3 13 1 0 1 0 24
TM TEAM 0-2 2
Totals………….. 29-57 8-18 22-32 8-19 27 18 88 19 9 3 8 200
50.9% 44.4% 68.8%
Team summary: FG 3FG FT
1st Half: 16-30 3-7 1-1
53.3% 42.9% 100 %
2nd Half: 13-27 5-11 21-31
48.1% 45.5% 67.7%
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Southeast Missouri 30 54 84 Record: (7-22, 4-12 OVC)
Austin Peay 36 52 88 Record: (8-21, 5-11 OVC)

 

Points in the paint-SEMO 40,APSU 26. Points off turnovers-SEMO 9,APSU 24.
2nd chance points-SEMO 9,APSU 9. Fast break points-SEMO 0,APSU 2.
Bench points-SEMO 20,APSU 26. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-SEMO 2nd-00:00, APSU 2nd-02:24.
Largest lead-SEMO None, APSU by 17 2nd-04:16.
Officials: Charles Carroll (R), Michael Trussell, Janice Jordan
Technical fouls: Southeast Missouri-None. Austin Peay-None.
Attendance: 840
Copies in a Flash Player of the Game: Whitney Hanley
Austin Peay earns 8th seed in OVC Tournament
Wade Neely
Wade Neelyhttp://www.twitter.com/WadeNeely
Wade Neely comes to Clarksville after beginning his sports media career in March 2010 as the Sports Director at WKSR AM-FM in Pulaski, Tenn. During his time at WKSR, Neely created, produced and hosted "The Wade Neely Morning Show", Pulaski's only live and local wakeup program on WKSR-AM. Neely also served as the "Voice of the Bobcats", providing play-by-play for all Giles County football, basketball and select baseball contests. Neely also served as Director of Broadcasting at Martin Methodist College beginning in January 2011, providing play-by-play for all RedHawks home contests as well as the team's trip to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City. Originally from Pulaski, Neely earned his B.S. in Electronic Media Communication from Middle Tennessee State University's famed College of Mass Communications. Neely also minored in Economics during undergraduate career.
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