APSU Lady Govs Basketball lose to hot handed Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

APSU Sports Information

Clarksville, TN – In a game where both offenses were largely unimpeded, Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team dropped an 88-69 decision to Western Kentucky, Saturday evening at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Both offenses had little trouble finding their range from the game’s opening tip.

Austin Peay also posted a season-best shooting effort, but its 48.3 percent performance could not keep pace with the host Hilltoppers.

Western Kentucky (4-2) never trailed in the contest, scoring six straight points to break a 2-2 tie and build an 8-6 lead after Kendall Noble’s jumper with 5:23 remaining.

The Hilltoppers would extend their lead to 10 points, 24-14, after a Tashia Brown layup with 24 seconds left, but senior guard Tiasha Gray countered with a jumper to end the quarter with APSU trailing by eight.

The Hilltoppers threatened to break the game open early in the second quarter, opening with an 11-4 run to build a 15-point, 35-20 lead. However, Austin Peay battled back with its own 11-1 run as sophomore guard Madison Rich and redshirt freshman Falon Baker combined for a trio of three pointers and a field goal, to get within five points with 3:49 left in the half.

However, Baker’s basket at the 3:49 mark would be Austin Peay’s (2-8) final field goal of the half. Western Kentucky closed the half with a 10-0 run to rebuild its 15-point advantage (48-33) which it took into the break.

The second half was an offensive stalemate with Austin Peay unable to get the deficit back to single digits while Western Kentucky could not completely break the game open. Both teams shot 50 percent or better in the second half, the only different in the half coming on Western Kentucky’s four three pointers in the half.

Rich led Austin Peay with a season-best 17-point performance, including eight points inside the arc. Gray added 17 points and had eight assists and five steals. Three other Govs players reached double-digit scoring territory.

Tashia Brown led Western Kentucky with a game-high 21 points, chipping in seven assists and six rebounds. Noble and reserve Dee Givens each had 16 points.

Austin Peay will take the upcoming week off for finals – its largest layoff between games this season – before returning to action with a 1:00pm (CT), Saturday contest at Kennesaw State.

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