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Austin Peay Women’s Basketball at Eastern Illinois

APSU Women’s Basketball
December 4th, 2010 • Lantz Arena • Charleston, IL

Austin Peay State University GovernorsCharleston, IL – Austin Peay closes out a seven-game road trip with a 4:00pm, Saturday, contest against Eastern Illinois at Lantz Arena.

The win at Southeast Missouri was the Lady Govs first true road and second win to split a pair of three-game losing streaks and it was the fifth-straight year to open OVC play with a win.

The Lady Govs won with good defense, holding SEMO to only 38.9 percent from the floor – an encouraging mark considering APSU had been allowing opponents an unsightly 44-percent field-goal percentage.

Lady Govs Basketball. (Courtesy: Keith Dorris/Dorris Photography)
Lady Govs Basketball. (Courtesy: Keith Dorris/Dorris Photography)

More importantly for Austin Peay was the emergence of sophomore Meghan Bussabarger, who made her season’s second start and responded with a career-high 20 points, which was key in lightening junior Whitney Hanley’s load, offensively. Hanley finished with 17 points and seven assists, leaving freshman Nicole Olszewski and junior Jasmine Rayner each with nine points.

Eastern Illinois was again picked to win the OVC in the league’s preseason poll and opened OVC action with a 77-58 win against Tennessee State, Thursday. While the Panthers are 3-4 overall, they have an impressive win against Missouri, November 14th, and have won two straight.

Three Panthers are averaging double figures, led by Mariah King’s 15.1 ppg. Chantelle Pressley and Ta’Kenya Nixon are each scoring around 11 ppg. EIU will be looking to avenge a OVC tournament championship game loss to the Lady Govs, last season. No doubt, the Panthers haven’t forgotten the Lady Govs have ousted them in back-to-back seasons from OVC tourney play.

Saturday’s contest will be the final game of the Lady Govs current seven-game road swing.

Austin Peay returns to the friendly confines of the Dunn Center in six days for a December 8th contest against Lipscomb.

Key Notables From Lady Govs At Southeast Missouri

Meghan BussabargerSophomore Megan Bussabarger made 8-of-10 FGs to finish with a career-high 20 points at Southeast Missouri. It was her season’s second start.

Freshman guard Nicole Olszewski narrowly missed double digits, scoring nine points at SEMO. Her biggest contributions came down the stretch – she made a layup to break a tie and assisted on a Rayner layup with 22 seconds left.

Austin Peay made 14 of 16 (87.5 percent) free throws at Southeast Missouri, including four straight by Whitney Hanley with under 20 seconds to play. It was a season-high FT percentage and the second-straight game to shoot better than 70 percent from the stripe.

Whitney HanleyWhile the Lady Govs were lights out offensively (53.7 FG%) they struggled with ball control at Southeast Missouri. They commited 24 turnovers which led to 20 Redhawk points. Conversley, Austin Peay turned 16 SEMO miscues into 20 points.

The 24 turnovers commited at Southeast Missouri was not a season high. In fact, five times this season, Austin Peay has had 20+ turnovers.

Whitney Hanley had her fifth-straight game in double figures, scoring 17 points. She also led the Lady Govs to a 31-23 rebounding advantage with six boards. It marked the fourth time for APSU to outrebound its opponent.

Next Up: Libscomb

Austin Peay will get relief from the road when it hosts Lipscomb in a 7:00pm, Wednesday game at the Dunn Center. That contest opens a four-game home stand.

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