Lady Govs start spring signing period, add Texas-product Martinez

APSU Women’s Basketball

Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team opened the spring portion of its signing period by adding transfer guard Leslie Martinez, of Copperas Cove, Texas, to its 2011-12 roster.

Martinez, a 5-9 guard, played the past two seasons at Collin County Community College in Plano, Texas. While there she averaged 11.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while making 32 percent of her three-point field goals. Martinez was the North Texas Junior College Athletic Association’s 2010 Freshman of the Year and a two-time first-team all-conference selection.

“Leslie is a fierce competitor and a fighter,” said Lady Govs head coach Carrie Daniels. “She is a scorer who can shoot the three as well as create off the dribble. Leslie will bring us some size at the three-guard and is a great rebounding wing.  She also has the ability to take smaller wings down and post them up, which shows the versatility to her game.”

Martinez left Copperas Cove High School as the program’s career leader in rebounds (639), assists (388) and steals (414) while finishing third in program history with 1,371 career points. In her senior campaign she was named first-team all-state by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.

Junior college additions have been a rare sight in recent years for the Lady Govs. The most recent transfer was April Thomas, who enjoyed a two-year career during Daniels first three seasons at Austin Peay.

“Since I came here five years ago we haven’t done a lot of junior college recruiting,” said Daniels. “The positive with junior college players is that they come in with two years experience under their belt ready to go.  Leslie made no bones about it, she wants a championship and she’s bringing her two years of eligibility here to Austin Peay to win her one.”

Martinez was a highly-sought guard with regional powers Mississippi, UTEP and Tulsa also taking a look during the recent recruiting process.  She joins a Lady Govs incoming class that already includes three signees from the fall period.