Austin Peay Women’s Basketball vs. Tennessee Tech
Monday, February 6th, 2012 | Tipoff: 7:00pm (CT)
Clarksville, TN | Arena: Dunn Center (7,257)
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay hosts Tennessee Tech in this season’s only meeting between the two rivals at 7:00pm, Monday at the Dunn Center. The contest will be the Lady Govs only game in a 12-day span, they return to the court after an 88-83 loss to UT Martin, Wednesday, and will not play again until a Monday, February 13th contest at Murray State.
Tennessee Tech will be playing the second game of a three-game road trip, winning a 62-50 decision at Jacksonville State, Saturday. It will be the 88th meeting between the two teams in a series that dates back to the 1970-71 season. The Golden Eagles have dominated the series 70-17 but the Lady Govs have been their equal since the 2000-01 season – the two teams splitting the 22 meetings in the new millennium.
The Lady Govs committed just 11 turnovers but its defense was only able to force four Skyhawks miscues and did not record a steal for the first time this season. Austin Peay’s 15 assists were one shy of its season best. The Lady Govs shot better than 90 percent from the free-throw line for the second consecutive game, making 11-of-12 (91.7 percent) from the stripe against UT Martin.
Whitney Hanley recorded her season’s first double-double with 23 points and a career-high tying 12 rebounds. Nicole Olszewski scored a career-high 21 points on 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) shooting… Shelby Olszewski tied a career-best with six assists. Kaitlyn Hill scored 11 points, her fourth consecutive double-digit scoring outing.
Close But
Austin Peay’s five-point loss to UT Martin, Wednesday, was its fourth loss by five points or less this season. Four of those losses have come during the Lady Govs current seven-game losing streak which opened with one possession losses to Jacksonville State (73-74) and Eastern Kentucky (59-61).
Pushing the margin a little bit further, the Lady Govs have suffered 11 losses by less than 10 points this season, including six games in this seven-game losing streak.
About Tennessee Tech
Tennessee Tech has won five of its last six contests dating back to January 21st and has moved into fourth place with five games remaining on its schedule. After a slow start to the season – TTU was 3-10 during the 2011 portion of its schedule – the Golden Eagles have posted a 7-4 conference mark and now stand 11-14 on the season.
Preseason OVC Player of the Year Tacarra Hayes has found her form as well and leads TTU with 17.0 points per game while ranking second on the team with 5.7 rebounds per contest. She has reached double digits in her last 12 games. Sophomore Jala Harris, a transfer from UAB and the 2010-11 Conference USA Freshman of the Year, became available at the semester break and is averaging 13.5 points per game in 15 games played.
Fast Break Points
Injury Update: Junior forward Meghan Bussabarger suffered a concussion in a practice prior to the Eastern Kentucky (January 16th) contest and is questionable for the Tennessee Tech contest. She has missed six games due to the injury.
Recent injuries forced the Lady Govs to use 14 different starting lineup combination this season. Those 14 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.
Senior 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 1,403 career points is sixth on the Lady Govs all-time scoring list and she needs 40 points to become one of the Lady Govs top five scorers all-time, passing Amanda Behrenbrinker (1,335 points, 1994-98). She is 97 points away from the 1,500-point plateau – a mark only three Lady Govs have reached all-time.
Hanley 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 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 this game with 1,046 career points. Rayner needs 73 points to move past head coach Carrie Daniels who holds down the 13th spot with 1,118 career points.
Austin 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 47-58 (.448) in regular-season OVC play under Daniels.
The Lady Govs are 16-24 (.400) in February under Daniels.
An Austin Peay Win Would
End its seven-game losing streak… end its four-game home losing streak… be its third win at the Dunn Center (3-8)… improve Daniels’ record to 69-114 overall, including a 48-58 record in OVC play… make the Lady Govs 421-585 overall since 1976-77.
An Austin Peay Loss Would
Be its eighth consecutive loss – its second eight-game losing streak this season… be its fifth-straight loss at the Dunn Center… make it 2-9 at the Dunn Center this season… be its second consecutive home loss to Tennessee Tech… drop Daniels’ record to 68-115 overall, including a 47-59 record in OVC play… make the Lady Govs 420-586 overall since 1976-77.
When Three Double-Down
When fewer than three players reach 10-plus points Austin Peay is winless (0-9).
Last Time Out
Austin Peay Lady Govs vs. UT Martin Skyhawks
February 1st, 2012
Clarksville, TN – Senior Whitney Hanley recorded her season’s first double double and junior Nicole Olszewski poured in a career-high 21 points but it was enough as Austin Peay dropped an 88-83 decision to UT Martin in Ohio Valley Conference action, Wednesday at the Dunn Center.
UT Martin threatened to run away and hide early in the second half. The Skyhawks scored five consecutive points to build the game’s first double-digit lead, 59-49, with 15:39 remaining. UTM pushed the lead to 11 points four minutes later on Taylor Hall’s three-pointer.
Austin Peay made its charge moments later, piecing together a 20-11 run to cut the lead to two points, 77-75, with 7:03 remaining. Nicole Olszewski led the effort with eight points during the burst while freshmen Shelby Olszewski and Kristen Stainback chipped in five and four points, respectively.
However, UTM’s Jasmine Newsome scored the game’s next four points and a Patricia Glenn added a layup to cap a six-point burst and push the lead to eight points, 83-75, with 3:02 left.
Austin Peay would close within three points after a pair of Stainback free throws with 1:26 left but could not get any closer. The Lady Govs missed their final three shots while UTM converted two free throws in the final minute to seal the win.
Austin Peay jumped out of the gates, scoring the game’s first eight points. The Lady Govs held on to their lead until the 10:42 mark. UT Martin used an 11-0 run over 2:11 to gain the lead, 25-22, with 10:14 left. The two teams would trade the lead twice more the half’s remainder. The Skyhawks ultimately closed the period with a 15-8 run and led 55-40 at the break.
Hanley finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds for her season’s first doubledouble.
Nicole Olszewski posted her career high as she broke out of her recent shooting slump with an 8-of-14 shooting effort. Junior Kaitlyn Hill recorded her fourth consecutive double-digit scoring effort with 11 points and also grabbed eight rebounds.
Newsome led UT Martin with 27 points and handed out a game-best eight assists. Heather Butler, the OVC’s leading scorer entering the night, was held to 17 points.
Last Meeting With Tennessee Tech
Austin Peay Lady Govs vs. Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles
March 4th, 2011
Nashville, TN – Austin Peay got off to a cold start and could not recover, dropping a 65-56 decision to Tennessee Tech in the Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Championship’s semifinal round, Friday afternoon, at Municipal Auditorium.
Top-seeded Tennessee Tech (23-6) led 19-10 at the 9:38 mark courtesy Rachel Glidden who made her first five three-point field goals. The Golden Eagles were 6-of-12 from the field in the opening 10-plus minutes.
Fifth-seeded Austin Peay (15-18) – playing its third game in as many days – did not get off as quickly, making just one of its first 13 field goal attempts and was only 4-of-18 from the field in the opening 10-plus minutes. Freshman Nicole Olszewski scored two of the Lady Govs first four field goals.
However, the Golden Eagles were unable to expand their lead past that ninepoint advantage the remainder of the half. The Lady Govs trimmed the lead to three points several times in the final 10 minutes, but trailed by five points, 30-25, at halftime.
Austin Peay opened the second half with an 11-5 run and took its only lead, 36-35, at the 14:12 mark. The Lady Govs made 4-of-9 from the field during the half-opening run, junior Whitney Hanley scoring seven points on three field goals.
However, Tennessee Tech regained the lead on their next possession and scored the game’s next seven points to build a 42-36 advantage with 11:33 remaining. A later burst of eight straight points pushed the lead into double digits for the first time, 56-45, with 3:52 left. The Lady Govs tried valiantly to cut into the lead, but could get no closer than five points the game’s remainder.
Olszewski led the Lady Govs with 14 points, including seven of the Lady Govs final 10 points in the final 2:18. Hanley finished with 12 points before fouling out at the 2:18 mark. Junior Jasmine Rayner added nine points and seven rebounds while going 5-of-6 at the free-throw line. Austin Peay was just 8-of-18 at the free-throw line.
Glidden and Tacarra Hayes each had 20 points to lead Tennessee Tech. Hayes was 12-of-13 at the free-throw line, leading a TTU free-throw effort that finished 22-of-27 at the stripe.
Broadcast Information
Students from the APSU Department of Communication’s broadcast media program will provide the play-by-play and analyst duties. In addition, the game will be broadcast by GovTV, produced by the APSU Communications department, with Barry Gresham providing the play-by-play and former Lady Govs player Dalila Thomas providing analysis. The broadcast can be seen locally (see left sidebar) and on OVCSports.TV.
Next Game
Austin Peay Lady Govs at Murray State Racers
Austin Peay begins a regular-season closing stretch of four games in 12 days when it travels to Murray State for a 7:00pm, Monday, February 13th contest. The Lady Govs won this season’s first meeting between the two teams, 71-63, January 7th.
However, the two teams have gone in dramatically different directions since. Austin Peay has lost seven straight entering Monday’s contest against Tennessee Tech. Murray State has posted a 5-4 record in the nine games it has played since that loss and is 5-5 in league play entering its Monday outing with Tennessee State. That contest will be the first of a four-game home stand for the Racers.
