Austin Peay (1-3) at Southern Miss (3-1)
Friday, November 28th, 2014 | 3:00pm CST
Hattiesburg, MS | Reed Green Coliseum
Hattiesburg, MS – Austin Peay women’s basketball team will spend the Thanksgiving holiday at the Southern Miss Thanksgiving Invitational, beginning with a 3:00pm, Friday contest against host Southern Miss.
The Lady Govs then will face either North Carolina A&T or Oral Roberts in a Saturday contest.
They saw their road losing streak reach six games after a 76-65 loss at Chattanooga, Monday. Austin Peay won the first half, 3528, thanks to a pair of big runs and shooting 45.5 percent from the floor.
However, Chattanooga turned up the defensive pressure in the second half and Austin Peay fell into a seven-minute drought that proved costly as UTC rallied to post the 76-65 victory.
Senior guard Kristen Stainback led the Lady Govs with 21 points at Southern Miss, giving Austin Peay a different leading scorer in each of its first four games. Sophomore center Tearra Banks added 19 points while junior guard Tiasha Gray added 13 points. That trio leads Austin Peay in scoring after four games – Gray with 18.8 points per game, Banks at 18.3 and Stainback at 13.0.
APSU returns four starters among 10 letterwinners from last season’s squad. That group includes the Lady Govs top five in both scoring and rebounding. Despite the large number of returnees, the projected APSU starting five includes one senior, one junior and three sophomores – still a relatively young squad.
Note: Due to Thanksgiving holiday, Friday’s contest against Southern Miss will not be broadcast on WAPX 91.9 FM or www.LetsGoPeay.com. Saturday’s game will be broadcast as scheduled.
The Golden Eagles
Southern Miss was picked to finish third in the Conference USA preseason poll, behind Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky… Senior forward Tamara Jones was named to the Preseason All-C-USA Team after averaging 14.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game last season and earning C-USA Newcomer of the Year award… Jones leads a Golden Eagles squad that returns nine letterwinners, accounting for 77 percent of its offense and 89 percent of its rebounding… Southern Miss opened the season with three consecutive wins, including two at home, before falling to McNeese State, Monday.
An Austin Peay Win Would
End its six-game road losing streak… Be its first-ever win against Southern Miss… Be its first-ever win against Southern Miss head coach Joy Lee-McNelis… Improve Daniels’ record to 90-160 overall… Make the Lady Govs 443-633 overall since 1976-77.
An Austin Peay Loss Would
Be its seventh-straight road loss… Extend its losing streak in road nonconference tilts to seven games… Be its fourth straight loss to Southern Miss, keeping it winless in the series… Drop Daniels’ record to 89-161 overall… Make the Lady Govs 442-634 overall since 1976-77.
Next Up
North Carolina A&T or Oral Roberst | Saturday
A pair of first-time opponents await Austin Peay in the next round of the Southern Miss Thanksgiving Invitational. North Carolina A&T brings a 3-1 record into the weekend and is led redshirt junior center Aprill McRae, who is averaging 19.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game this season. Oral Roberts is 2-2 prior to a Wednesday contest against UALR with its two losses coming to No. 8 Baylor and No. 4 Tennessee. Redshirt senior Vicky McIntyre, a 6-7 center, leads ORU, averaging 12.8 points, 14.3 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per game through four outings.
