APSU Lady Govs Basketball finish homestand against Morehead State Eagles, Monday

Austin Peay (6-12 / 3-2) vs. Morehead State (7-11 / 3-2)

Monday, January 19th, 2014 | 6:00pm CT
Clarksville, TN | Dunn Center

Clarksville, TN – A matchup of the Ohio Valley Conference’s top two point guards is on tap when Austin Peay hosts Morehead State in a 6:00pm, Monday contest at the Dunn Center.

The contest will close Austin Peay’s three-game homestand which began Thursday.

Gray ranks among the league’s leaders in scoring (2nd), rebounding (17th), assists (2nd) and steals (1st). Jones is right there with Gray, ranking among OVC leaders in scoring (3rd), assists (1st) and steals (2nd).

The Lady Govs fell to 3-2 in OVC action with Saturday’s 81-78 overtime loss to Tennessee State. Both of Austin Peay’s OVC losses have come in the back half of a Thursday-Saturday set. Monday will provide APSU its only three-game in five-day stretch this season.

Defense and rebounding have been the Lady Govs two pitfalls throughout the 2014-15 season and they again won both battles in Saturday’s loss. Austin Peay posted a surprise 57-45 rebounding victory against the league’s best rebounding team as three APSU players (Gray, Tearra Banks and Jennifer Nwokocha) recorded 10 or more rebounds.

In addition, the Lady Govs held Tennessee State to 37.9 percent shooting, the eighth time they have held an opponent under 40 percent shooting this season.

Saturday’s result turned on giveaways as Austin Peay committed a season-high 31 turnovers against Tennessee State. The Lady Tigers jumped on those turnovers for 31 points.

It was the continuation of a disturbing trend for Austin Peay, which has averaged 20 turnovers per game in OVC action after posting an impressive 14.2 turnovers per game in nonconference action.

Morehead State Eagles

Morehead State improved to 3-2 in OVC play by handing Eastern Illinois its second loss of the league campaign, 67-62 on Saturday. Almesha Jones scored 26 points in the win against EIU for her seventh 20-point outing this season.

Morehead State has used just nine players during the OVC slate, with four of those players averaging more than 10 points per game on the season and all four ranking among the league’s top 30 scorers.

Freshman forward Eriel McKee has made an impact on the boards, ranking fourth in rebounding (8.6 rpg) while ranking seventh in offensive rebounds (2.6 rpg) and fourth in defensive rebounds (6.0 rpg).

Last Season’s Meeting

Austin Peay ended a 10-game losing streak with an 83-75 Ohio Valley Conference victory against Morehead State, January 14th, 2014, at Johnson Arena.

Austin Peay led wire-to-wire for its first win since November 30th, 2013 against Central Arkansas. The win also ended the Lady Govs seven-game OVC losing streak dating back to last season.

The Lady Govs used a balanced scoring attack to post the win with five players scoring more than 10 points. Tiasha Gray, who came off the bench for the first time this season, led Austin Peay with a 19-point, six-steal performance. Nicole Olszewski chipped in 11 points with nine rebounds and seven assists.

Austin Peay fended off a second-half Morehead State run with a 12-2 run to build a 19-point advantage with nine minutes left. Again five different Lady Govs scored during the run with Gray scoring five points.

The Lady Govs would need nearly all of that lead in the closing minutes. Morehead State found its range in the final 7:30, hitting all six of its second-half three-pointers in that six-minute span. MSU’s Almesha Jones hit the last of those six with 1:03 remaining, trimming APSU’s lead to seven points. The Eagles would get even closer and trailed by five points, 78-73, with 33 seconds left.

Austin Peay finally stabilized the lead at the free-throw line, making 5-of-6 in the final 33 seconds to secure the lead and ultimately the win.

The More You Know

An Austin Peay Win Would: Be its second straight win against Morehead State, leveling the all-time series at 38-38… Make it 4-2 to start OVC play for the first time since the 2010-11 season (ended 12-6 that season)… Improve Daniels’ record to 95-169 overall… Move Daniels to 62-86 in OVC play… Make the Lady Govs 448-642 overall since 1976-77.

An Austin Peay Loss Would: Be its second-straight loss… Be its second straight home loss to Morehead State… Drop it to 3-3 in OVC play, matching last season’s start (finished 6-10 that season)… Drop Daniels’ record to 94-170 overall… Drop Daniels to 61-87 in OVC play… Make the Lady Govs 447-643 overall since 1976-77.

Broadcast Information

Radio • Governors Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Van Stokes
Analyst: Van Stokes

TV • APSU-TV
Play-by-Play: Charlie Patten
Analyst: Braden Wood

Lady Govs on the Web

Live Video: www.OVCDigitalNetwork.com
Live Audio: www.LetsGoPeay.com/Watch
Live Statistics: www.PeayStats.com