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HomeSportsFall preseason practice begins for APSU Women's Basketball

Fall preseason practice begins for APSU Women’s Basketball

APSU Sports Information

APSU Women's Basketball - Austin Peay State UniversityClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team begins fall practice 4:00pm, Monday, at the Dunn Center.

This week, the Govs will practice at 4:00pm, Monday-Thursday, before an early morning session at Clarksville High School, Friday.

Austin Peay Women's Basketball to kick off fall practice Monday. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Women’s Basketball to kick off fall practice Monday. (APSU Sports Information)

Under second-year head coach David Midlick, APSU enters the 2016-17 season looking to build on its postseason berth a year ago.

The Govs won 10 games in Midlick’s first campaign, with eight of those victories coming against Ohio Valley Conference opponents.

Austin Peay finished as one of the league’s top teams in field goal percentage (.428), thanks in large part to Tearra Banks leading the OVC at .598.

Banks, along with Beth Rates, April Rivers and Jacey Scott, make up this team’s senior class. With nearly 300 combined games played, Midlick will lean on his experienced players to lead the Govs throughout the preseason.

“I think you have to rely on your seniors a lot,” Midlick said. “I’ve talked to them a good bit that the year should go the way you want it to go. There’s no excuse not to speak up and not have the season look the way you want it to. I’ll continue to talk to them and depend heavily on them.”

Joining the seniors are four returning juniors, one sophomore and five newcomers – two JUCO transfers and three freshmen. It opens up many opportunities for new faces to come in and receive playing time right away, and despite the amount of newcomers on the squad, it doesn’t alter Midlick’s practice plan as it’s a comparable situation to 2015.

At this point, it’s more about learning the basics and creating team chemistry. Beginning this week, the staff is excited to see high energy and a strong work ethic from the girls.

“It’s going to be pretty similar to last year, since I was a new coach putting in new offensive and defensive systems,” Midlick said. “What is good is that we have nine returners that know how it should look.

“We’re going to make mistakes, but I want us to make less each day. I want us to have a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm and encouragement among each other. There’s going to be excitement the first few days, but after a week, it gets into having four or five weeks of pushing through.”

For more updates on practices and related news, follow the women’s basketball team on Twitter (@AustinPeayWBB).

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