Clarksville, TN – A lackluster night on both ends of the court proved too much to overcome as Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team dropped a 65-50 non-conference decision to Evansville, Saturday night, at the Dunn Center.
Freshman Tearra Banks entered the game and her first basket put Austin Peay up by nine points, 15-6, at the 13:14 mark. A Banks layup minutes later helped APSU stabilize its lead at eight points, 19-11, with 11:43 left in the half.
The 11:43 mark proved an important moment in the half. With Banks’ field goal, the Lady Govs opened the game making 9-of-18 from the floor. However, after that point Austin Peay struggled to find its range and made just 4-of-18 to finish the half.
Meanwhile, the Evansville (3-3) combination of Mallory Ladd and Kat Taylor mustered a nine straight points as part of a 9-2 run over the half’s final 4:32 to take a 32-28 lead into halftime.
The Lady Govs came out of the break and quickly tied the game with the second half’s first two baskets – one each by Gray and sophomore Alexis Hardaway.
However, Evansville countered with the game’s next six points as part of a 14-4 run to build a double-digit lead, 46-36, just eight minutes into the half. Austin Peay would get back within single digits one last time at the 7:41 mark, but could not get any closer.
Sophomore Tiasha Gray followed up her triple-digit performance against Trevecca, Tuesday, with a 14-point, eight-rebound, six-assist performance, Saturday. However, she was the only Lady Govs scorer to find double-digit territory. Banks added nine points in a 12-minute outing.
Austin Peay shot just 33.3 percent (22-of-66) from the floor, including 11.1 percent (1-of-9) from three-point range. Meanwhile, the APSU defense could not limit Evansville’s offense which shot 41.5 percent (27-of-65) for the game.
Austin Peay will get a seven-day break before resuming its homestand with a 7:00pm, Saturday, November 30th contest against Central Arkansas.
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