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HomeSportsAPSU Women's Basketball plays Southeast Missouri at the Dunn Center, Thursday

APSU Women’s Basketball plays Southeast Missouri at the Dunn Center, Thursday

Austin Peay (13-2 | 8-6 OVC) vs. Southeast Missouri (12-13 | 7-7 OVC)

Thursday, February 21st, 2019 | 5:30pm CT
Clarksville, TN | Dunn Center

APSU Women's BasketballClarksville, TN – Fresh off a 2-0 weekend in the Ohio Valley Conference for the first time since the opening weekend, Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team looks to extend its winning streak to three games by hosting Southeast Missouri, 5:30pm, Thursday., February 21st.

Austin Peay Women's Basketball looks to extend winning streak to three when it hosts Southeast Missouri, Thursday. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Women’s Basketball looks to extend winning streak to three when it hosts Southeast Missouri, Thursday. (APSU Sports Information)

The Governors (13-12, 8-6 OVC) completed a season sweep of Morehead State on the road before returning home to defeat rival Murray State in the Heritage Bank Battle of the Border.

The Govs used a blazing first half from beyond the arc and record free throw shooting to take down the Eagles, who were second in the OVC at the time, last Thursday. The Govs hit nine first-half three-pointers and made 28 total free throws, the most in a game in over three years.

The game panned out differently against the Racers, with the Govs trailing most of the game. However, the Govs once again found their range from deep, with 11 of their 20 made field goals being three-pointers. The Govs trailed by six entering the fourth quarter, but opened on a 7-0 run and allowed the Racers to only score nine fourth-quarter points en route to a crucial 59-56 victory.

Keisha Gregory led the Govs with back-to-back scoring outputs of 21 and 20 points, while Arielle Gonzalez-Varner recorded a double-double against Morehead State with 12 points and 13 rebounds. The Govs also got big performances from Maggie Knowles and Brandi Ferby. Knowles hit another three triples to go along with a career-high eight rebounds against Morehead State, while Ferby set career-highs in rebounds (seven) and assists (nine) against Murray State. Ferby now has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in conference play.

About the Southeast Missouri Redhawks

The Redhawks (12-13, 7-7 OVC) find themselves just a game behind the Govs after obliterating Eastern Illinois on the road, scoring their most points in an OVC game this season (80). The Govs lead the all-time-series, 33-27, and had won the previous five meetings before SEMO defeated the Govs at the Show Me Center in January. Excluding the win against APSU, SEMO has only one win against a team above them in the standings.

The Redhawks are not an offensive juggernaut by any means, shooting below 30 percent from three-point range and are near the bottom in free-throw percentage. SEMO does defend better than most, holding opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field and allowing only 64 points per game.

Tesia Thompson is the primary offensive threat for the Redhawks. The sophomore guard ranks fourth in the OVC by scoring 16.8 points per game and is eighth overall in rebounding by grabbing 7.4 boards per game. Thompson also leads the OVC in total free-throw attempts and makes, shooting over 72 percent from the stripe.

In the first meeting, the Govs went up by eight in the late stages of the fourth quarter, only to see the Redhawks go 12-of-14 from the free-throw line to lose by 10. Thompson had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while the Govs also had problems containing LaTrese Saine.

Saine, who only averages three points and three rebounds per game in 13 total games played, had 12 points and eight rebounds against the Govs, while also being a huge inside presence defensively. The Govs got 13 points from both Gregory and Myah LeFlore, but LeFlore will miss the game due to injury.

Follow APSU

The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. There will also be an additional radio broadcast on WAPX (91.9 FM). Live stats will be provided and @AustinPeayWBB will tweet live updates on Twitter.

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