Chattanooga, TN – Leading with less than three minutes left in the game, the Austin Peay State University (APSU) women’s basketball team got four offensive rebounds to consume more than 90 seconds off the clock then sealed the win with back-to-back defensive starts in a 50-49 victory against Chattanooga, Saturday, at McKenzie Arena.
The Ohio Valley Conference’s league leading offense had to rely on their defensive tonight at McKenzie Arena.
The Governors struggled to score all night, shooting 28.4 percent from the floor.
But the suffocating full-court press deployed by the Govs stopped the Mocs offense in its tracks more than once, and held Chattanooga to 23 less shots than the Govs.
The Ohio Valley Conference’s league-leading offense entering the night, Austin Peay State University (5-1) had to lean on their defense in Sunday’s win and it proved up to the task. The Governors forced 28 turnovers and recorded 15 steals, all while scoring almost half of their points in the game, 24, off turnovers.
Led by Brandi Ferby with four steals, the APSU Govs defense kept Chattanooga from scoring more than 13 points in any quarter, and held the Mocs to one made field goal in the fourth quarter. The defensive unit forced Chattanooga’s leading scorer, Eboni Williams, into 10 turnovers in the contest.
The Governors struggled to score all night, shooting 28.4 percent from the floor. Austin Peay’s offense was led by Preseason All-OVC selection Arielle Gonzalez-Varner. The senior forward shot 60 percent from the field en route to scoring a game-high 18 points off the bench. Gonzalez-Varner also dished out two assists, recorded three steals, and pulled down five rebounds.
With 2:54 left in the game and a three-point lead, the Governors would control the ball for the next 1:49 seconds of the game to run the clock down to 1:05. Brandi Ferby took a shot and got her own rebound to start the possession.
Then the Governors ran the shot clock all the way down before Ella Sawyer pulled down one of her team-high eight rebounds to keep control of the ball. Then after running out the shot clock again, Tahanee Bennell pulled down a Brandi Ferby missed three-pointer, and proceeded to drain the shot clock again.
With just over a minute on the clock, the Governors still only led by three points. Chattanooga cut the lead to one with 57 seconds remaining, but that is as close as the Mocs would get.
The defense posted back-to-back stops as Chattanooga missed a game-winning shot at the buzzer and the Governors picked up their third straight win, 50-49.
The Difference
The Austin Peay State University Governors full-court press. The Govs defense forced 28 turnovers and kept Chattanooga from ever getting anything going on the offense end, while the Govs turned the turnovers into 24 points. When the Governors put on the full-court defense, they forced two 10-second violations on Chattanooga. The APSU Governor defense slowed the Chattanooga offense so much that the Mocs only got off 44 shots in the game.
APSU Notably
The Governors picked up their first win over Chattanooga in 22 years. Before today, the last time Austin Peay beat Chattanooga was November 30th, 1997.
Arielle Gonzalez-Varner scored in double-figures for the fourth straight game, scoring
The Governor defense has forced 24 plus turnovers in all but one game this season.
The Governor defense has recorded 12 plus steals in all but one game this season.
Ella Sawyer led the Governors in both rebounds and assist for the second time this season – Nov. 5 vs. Kentucky Wesleyan.
Up Next for APSU Women’s Basketball
The APSU Governors will be off for Thanksgiving week before a 3:00pm, Sunday, December 1st tipoff against Kentucky in Lexington. The game against the Wildcats will be broadcast on the SEC Network, and will be the Govs second matchup against a Power Five school this season.
For news and updates on the upcoming game against Kentucky and all of the Governors future contests, follow along on Twitter (@AustinPeayWBB)
