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Austin Peay Lady Govs Basketball starts second half of the OVC against Tennesssee State Lady Tigers

Austin Peay Women’s Basketball vs. Tennessee State
Saturday, January 28th, 2012 | Tipoff: 5:15pm (CT)
Clarksville, TN | Arena: Dunn Center (7,257)

Austin Peay State University Lady GovsClarksville, TN – Austin Peay will start the second half of its Ohio Valley Conference schedule against Tennessee State in a 5:15pm, Saturday contest at the Dunn Center. Both teams have struggled since opening the OVC schedule against each other – Austin Peay sits in ninth place one game behind eighth-place Tennessee State.

The Lady Govs have lost their last four outings, including both ends of last week’s road trip through Illinois. The Lady Tigers went 1-1 in their two contests last week, including an overtime home win against Morehead State. Tennessee State won the OVC opener between the two teams, 95-81 on December 29th, in a game that saw Austin Peay whistled for 32 fouls which led to 48 TSU free throws.

Austin Peay Women's  Basketball.
Austin Peay Women's Basketball.

Austin Peay led SIU Edwardsville at halftime (34-32) for the third time in OVC play, but lost after leading at halftime for the second time. The Lady Govs opened the second half 0-for-4 from the floor while committing nine turnovers in its first 14 possessions spanning 7:23, the lone possession it turned into points was a 1-for-2 trip to the free throw line by Jasmine Rayner.

Austin Peay won the rebounding battle at SIU Edwardsville (44-43), its first rebounding win in OVC play and only the fourth time this season. The Lady Govs committed a season-high tying 26 turnovers at SIUE, the first time it lost the turnover margin since December 31st at Morehead State… junior Kaitlyn Hill recorded her first career double-double, posting career highs in points (14) and rebounds (13), including 10 points off seven offensive rebounds. Senior Whitney Hanley scored 25 points, her 11th 20-point performance this season and her sixth in eight OVC games.

About Tennessee State

Tennessee State TigersTennessee State finished the first half of its OVC slate with a 3-5 mark and sits in eighth place, one game ahead of Austin Peay but 1½ games behind three teams tied for fifth place. The Lady Tigers have one win in their last four outings – an overtime victory against Morehead State, last Saturday. Tennessee State has only two wins on the road this season – including a 67-57 victory at Jacksonville State, January 7th – and has been outscored by an average of 15.6 points per game away from the Gentry Center.

Jasmine Shuler was named the OVC’s Player of the Week, Tuesday, after scoring 38 points in TSU’s win against Morehead State and following that with 22 points at Eastern Illinois, Monday. Shuler leads the Lady Tigers in scoring (15.9 ppg), averaging 2.6 three-pointers per game.

Fast Break Points

Meghan BussabargerInjury Update: Junior forward Meghan Bussabarger suffered a concussion in a practice prior to the Eastern Kentucky (January 16th) contest and will not be available for either the Tennessee State or Southeast Missouri contests.

Recent injuries forced the Lady Govs to use their 12th different starting lineup combination this season. Those 12 combinations are the most used by a Division I team this season, only Colorado State has put forth at least 10 different lineups this season.

Whitney HanleySenior guard Whitney Hanley became the 14th Austin Peay women’s basketball player to reach the 1,000-point plateau with her 21-point performance at Lipscomb, November 14th. Her 1,335 career points is sixth on the Lady Govs all-time scoring list and she needs 108 points to become one of the Lady Govs top five scorers all-time, passing Amanda Behrenbrinker (1,335 points, 1994-98). She is 165 points away from the 1,500-point plateau – a mark only three Lady Govs have reached all-time.

Jasmine RaynerHanley saw her school-record streak of consecutive made free throws stopped at 25 when she missed her first free throw at Tennessee State, December 29th. She made her final three attempts. She broke the record, previously held by Brooke Armistead (24 consecutive FTM), with a 4-of-4 effort against Alabama A&M, December 21st.

Senior forward Jasmine Rayner became the 15th Lady Govs player to reach the 1,000-point plateau with an eight-point outing against Eastern Kentucky, January 16th. She currently sits 14th on the scoring list, entering Saturday’s game with 1,023 career points. Rayner needs 96 points to move past head coach Carrie Daniels who holds down the 13th spot with 1,118 career points.

Nicole OlszewskiAustin Peay returns its four leading scorers from last season’s team: Hanley (12.2 ppg), Rayner (10.5 ppg), junior forward Meghan Bussabarger (8.0 ppg) and sophomore guard Nicole Olszewski (8.0 ppg).

Hanley was named to the Preseason All-OVC team after receiving second-team All-OVC honors last season.

Austin Peay is 47-55 (.461) in regular-season OVC play under Daniels.

The Lady Govs are 23-25 (.479) in January under Daniels.

An Austin Peay Win Would

Make it 3-4 in 2012… end its four-game losing streak… end its two game home losing streak… be its third win at the Dunn Center this season (3-6)… improve Daniels’ record to 69-111 overall, including a 48-55 record in OVC play… make the Lady Govs 421-582 overall since 1976-77.

An Austin Peay Loss Would

Be its fifth consecutive loss… drop it to 2-5 in 2012… be its third straight loss at home… make it 2-7 at the Dunn Center in 2011-12… give TSU a sweep of the regular-season series for the first time since 2008-09… drop Daniels’ record to 68-112 overall, including a 47-56 record in OVC play… make the Lady Govs 420-583 overall since 1976-77.

Lady Govs Larceny

Leslie MartinezFor the first two-thirds of the season, junior Leslie Martinez and freshman Shelby Olszewski led the Lady Govs in steals and were the only players ranked among the OVC’s top 15 in steals per game. Martinez (2.0 spg) ranks sixth in the league and Shelby Olszewski (1.6 spg) is still 12th.

However, they are joined in the league’s top 15 by junior Nicole Olszewski who moved up to 11th in the league rankings (1.6 spg) after a two-steal night at Eastern Illinois. Senior Whitney Hanley rejoined the top-15 after a two-steal outing at SIUE, and ranks 15th with 1.5 steals per game. That quartet is leading Austin Peay to a 9.9 steals average that ranks fourth among the league’s teams.

Shelby Olszewski Finds Rhythm At The Line

Shelby OlszewskiFreshman Shelby Olszewski entered APSU’s January 14th contest against Jacksonville State with just three free-throws made in her first 16 games and was shooting an unsightly 12 percent from the charity stripe. However, she made both of her free throws against the Gamecocks to boost that percentage to 18.5 percent.

But that outing was mere foreshadowing for her performance January 16th against Eastern Kentucky when she tied the APSU record for free-throw percentage, making all 12 of her attempts.

Back-To-Back 10s

Five players – seniors Whitney Hanley and Jasmine Rayner, juniors Leslie Martinez and Meghan Bussabarger and sophomore Nicole Olszewski – have recorded at least 10 points in back-toback games.

Hanley saw her streak of 10 or more points stopped at nine consecutive games, the longest stretch by a Lady Govs player this season.

Haynes To Join APSU Athletics Hall of Fame

Ashley Haynes, a Lady Govs alumnae who played from 2002-06 will become the ninth women’s basketball player inducted into the Austin Peay Athletics Hall of Fame in ceremony prior to Saturday’s contest against Tennessee State. She will join the following list of Lady Govs alumnae: Stella Schnupp (1978), Joanne Arnold-Tribue (1988), Shandra Maxwell-Chambers (1998), Andrea Miller (2003), Amanda Behrenbrinker-Sloan (2005), Brooke Armistead (2009), Gerlonda Hardin (2010), Paige Smith (2011)

Carrie Daniels Show

Carrie DanielsThe Carrie Daniels Show airs at 6:00pm, each Wednesday, live from Edwards Steakhouse on Franklin Street in downtown Clarksville.

Hosted by Brian Rives for the fourth consecutive season, the show will air live on WVRY 105.1 FM and be simulcast over the internet at LetsGoPeay.com.

Next Game

Austin Peay Lady Govs Travel to Southeast Missouri

Southeast Missouri RedhawksAustin Peay will play the first of four consecutive solo contests when it travels to Southeast Missouri for a 7:00pm, Monday contest at the Show Me Center. It will be a matchup of teams currently ninth and 10th in the OVC standings. The Redhawks have lost their last four outings entering this week’s action, including a narrow three-point overtime loss at Tennessee Tech, January 21st.

Austin Peay has won the last six meetings in the series, Southeast Missouri last downing the Lady Govs during the 2007-08 season at the Show Me Center. The Redhawks currently do not have a player averaging more than 10 points per game – Bailie Roberts leading the squad with 9.4 points per game – and the team is averaging just 50.8 points per contest.

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