Fresh off a disappointing loss in the first game of its current road trip, Austin Peay women’s basketball team will have little time to regroup before visiting Murray State in a 5:15 p.m., Saturday contest at the Regional Special Events Center.
Austin Peay has found success infrequently away from the Dunn Center this season, winning two of its 10 true road games this season, including Thursday’s 79-70 loss at Tennessee Martin. However, the Lady Govs will have to shake their road woes as four of their remaining six regular-season games will be away from the Dunn Center.
The Lady Govs also will have to get off to a better start than they have in their last two outings. Austin Peay has trailed by more than 20 points in the first half of its latest two losses. The offense has sputtered in the opening half, making just 33.3 percent from the field in both outings.
Most recently, Austin Peay trailed by 21 points at halftime of its game, Thursday, at Tennessee Martin and could not overcome the deficit despite a furious late second-half charge. Senior Nicole Jamen led APSU with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Murray State improved to 6-2 at the Regional Special Events Center this season with a 77-69 victory against Tennessee State, Thursday. The Racers shot 40.6 percent from the field to nip the Lady Tigers. Senior Kayla Vance, Murray State’s leading scorer, scored 20 points to lead all scorers.
The Lady Govs travel to Murray where they have rarely tasted success. The Racers lead the series by a 20-9 margin at home and have won the last two meetings at the RSEC.
Despite its loss Thursday, Austin Peay (7-5) remains third in the OVC regular-season race. The Lady Govs lead over fourth-place Eastern Kentucky (6-6) was trimmed to one game and they fell three games behind second-place Morehead State (10-2) with six games remaining.
Murray State (5-6) sits alone in fifth place, 1½ games behind Austin Peay and just one-half game behind Eastern Kentucky. The Racers must be careful because they sit just 1½ games ahead of ninth-place Tennessee Tech (4-8)
