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HomeSportsAPSU Women's Basketball steam roll Eastern Kentucky, 100-65

APSU Women’s Basketball steam roll Eastern Kentucky, 100-65

APSU Sports Information

APSU Women's BasketballClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University (APSU) women’s basketball team opened Ohio Valley Conference with a statement win, hitting the century mark as they defeated Eastern Kentucky, 100-65, Thursday, at the Dunn Center.

Austin Peay Women's Basketball senior guard Keisha Gregory went 3 for 4 from behind the arch against Eastern Kentucky, Thursday. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Women’s Basketball senior guard Keisha Gregory went 3 for 4 from behind the arch against Eastern Kentucky, Thursday. (APSU Sports Information)

After a hot start by both teams, the Governors (6-6, 1-0 OVC) employed a full-court press most of the game, rattling their opponents while having one of their best shooting performances of the season.

The Colonels (2-10, 0-0 OVC) made their first six shots, including four three-pointers to lead by as much as seven in the first quarter.

However, coach David Midlick began to press the Colonels, as the Govs embarked on a 15-2 run to close the quarter.

2018 APSU Women's Basketball - Keisha GregoryKeisha Gregory had three threes and 15 overall points in the first quarter, as the Govs led by six at the end of the period.

The Govs also received a boost off the bench, as senior Michaela Campbell was able to play for the first time since the third game of the season against Vanderbilt.

The Govs wasted no time in stretching their lead, as they went on a quick 7-0 run to start the second quarter, forcing an EKU timeout with the Govs up 12. The Colonels kept failing on breaking the press, with numerous violations for not inbounding the ball or getting the ball across the court in the required time frame, as evident by their 17 first-half turnovers.

2018 APSU Women's Basketball - Gabby GregoryAPSU smelled blood and Myah LeFlore finished off a three-point play to go up 17, before Kasey Kidwell found her fellow freshman Maggie Knowles for an easy layup from a perfect bounce pass in traffic. Off the back of a 28-point second quarter, the most in a second quarter of a game this season for APSU, the Govs led 57-33 at halftime.

If Keisha Gregory was the leader in the first half, then Gabby Gregory was the standout in the second as she scored all of her points in the second half, finishing with a team-high 20 in just 12 minutes. The Gregory’s were not the only ones shooting well, as Arielle Gonzalez-Varner had 10 points in the third quarter as the Govs led by as much as 32 in the third quarter after hitting seven of their first eight shots.

The game was seemingly over as both teams knew the result was certain and the scoring slowed down, but not enough to keep the Govs away from the century mark. With Gabby’s fifth three-pointer of the second half, the Govs reached 100 points for the first time in an OVC game since January 7th, 2002 against Eastern Illinois.

The Austin Peay defense also came to play after the opening few minutes, forcing a season-high 28 turnovers and holding the Colonels to 3-of-21 from the three-point line after their first four threes went in. Nieja Crawford also recorded her third career double-double and grabbed at least 10 rebounds for the third straight game.

APSU Notably

With the win, the Govs are now 6-1 at home in the Dunn Center.

The 100 points scored is the second time the Govs scored 100 this season (Christian Brothers) and the first time since the 2001-02 season the Govs hit the century mark in an OVC contest.

Gabby Gregory set a career-high with 20 points, all coming in the second half.

The Govs have three wins against the Colonels in their last five OVC openers, winning all three by double digits.

The Govs had six players score in double figures, the second time that has happened this season (Christian Brothers).

Austin Peay attempted 36 free throws to EKU’s 12, the largest margin of any game this season.

The Govs forced a season-high 28 turnovers, while also tying the season-high in steals with 14.

The 28 second quarter points are the most for the Govs in the second quarter of a game this season.

The Govs are now undefeated when having a better shooting percentage (3-0) and having more free-throw attempts (6-0) than their opponents.

 

APSU Head Coach David Midlick’s Musings

On going down early:
“We know there are going to be crazy swings and we did a good job handling it after going down early. I thought Ari did a really good job at the top of the press, Keisha had a great game with 15 points in the first half, and I thought Brandi did a good job pushing the ball and creating opportunities when we had a steal.”

On the defense:
“The turnovers and steals stats are great and will lead to success, but they will not happen every night. We just have to have a great amount of energy with what we have. We are not real big as a team and we know we will have swings in a game. I was just pleased we did not panic and played the same way as shots started falling.”

On Gabby Gregory:
“Gabby has been doing that in practice for a year and a half now. When she gets hot, it looks like that and I’m pleased she was able to find that success in a game.”

On the win:
“You have to hold your ground at home. We played a good, dangerous time tonight who were 2-9 coming in, but after watching the tape it was clear they did a lot of good things. They had some close losses to other very good teams, but we played very well and things went that well for us because of our shooting.”

Next Up for APSU

The Govs will be back in action against Morehead State at 1:30pm, Saturday, January 5th, 2019 in the Dunn Center.

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