34.5 F
Clarksville
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeSportsTrip to Eastern Illinois next for APSU Women's Basketball

Trip to Eastern Illinois next for APSU Women’s Basketball

Austin Peay (8-10) at Eastern Illinois (5-12)

Saturday, January 14th, 2017 | 1:30pm CT
Charleston, IL | Lantz Arena

APSU Women's Basketball - Austin Peay State UniversityCharleston, IL – Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team prepares for a road matchup at Eastern Illinois, 1:30pm, Saturday, in Lantz Arena.

The Governors are looking to capitalize on its most recent performance – an 85-62 wire-to-wire victory over SIU Edwardsville, Wednesday, in Clarksville Tennessee.

Austin Peay Women's Basketball travel to Charleston Saturday to take on Eastern Illinois Panthers. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Women’s Basketball travel to Charleston Saturday to take on Eastern Illinois Panthers. (APSU Sports Information)

APSU posted its season’s highest point total in regulation, and most since January 20th, 2016 at Morehead State.

Helping spark the offense was a 31-point third quarter, the most scored by the Govs in a single period this season.

Four Govs reached double figures in scoring, led by another solid effort by senior center Tearra Banks (19 points). Senior forward Beth Rates literally couldn’t miss in the contest, going 6-of-6 from the field for 14 points, junior center Brianne Alexander added 14 as well and sophomore guard Keisha Gregory posted the first double-double of her career (13 points, 10 rebounds).

About the Eastern Illinois Panthers

Eastern Illinois PanthersThe Panthers are 1-4 within conference play, with their lone victory coming against Jacksonville State, 71-67 in double overtime. Since then, Eastern Illinois has dropped three consecutive road contests in Kentucky – at Morehead State, Eastern Kentucky and Murray State.

Grace Lennox, the reigning OVC Player of the Week, has been the team’s reliable scoring option by averaging 15.1 points per game. The junior earned the weekly honor by averaging 30 points in games against Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky, including a 35-point outburst in the latter matchup.

Eastern Illinois has an additional three players averaging double figures in 2016-17 – Erica Brown (11.8), Allison Van Dyke (10.5) and Jalisha Smith (10.3).

Last Time Against the Panthers

Austin Peay and Eastern Illinois last met February 10th, 2016 in Charleston, resulting in a 64-56 victory by the Panthers. Three Govs scored 10-plus points – Beth Rates (16), Tiasha Gray (13) and Sydney Gooch (11, 11 rebounds) – but as a team, APSU shot 1-of-10 behind the arch.

APSU Storylines

  • Banks within reach of 13th in all-time scoring. With her 19 points against SIUE, Banks is now 14 points away from passing Ashley Herring for 13th all-time in scoring, currently at 1,169 career points.
  • Rates climbing the charts. With four blocks against the Cougars, Rates is now just five shy of from overtaking Ashley Haynes for third-most in APSU history.
  • Gregory breaks out…again. Gregory found her groove once again, Wednesday, connecting on three triples to match her career-high of 13 points. She also set a career-best in rebounds with 10 for her first double-double.
  • B-Will on point. Williams did a little bit of everything in her 44 minutes on the floor at Tennessee Tech. Williams posted the first double-double of her career with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while also leading the team in assists (five) and steals (five, a career-high).

Follow the APSU Govs

Be sure to follow all the Austin Peay women’s basketball action at LetsGoPeay.com and the official Facebook page of Austin Peay Athletics. In addition, live play-by-play coverage can be found on Twitter (@AustinPeayWBB), while fans can watch the game on OVCDigitalNetwork.com

RELATED ARTICLES

Latest Articles