Miami, FL – Scoring early and often, the Austin Peay State University (APSU) women’s basketball buried Binghamton early, taking a 20-point lead into the halftime, before rolling to a 80-63 win, Thursday, on the first day of the Florida International Holiday Hoops Showdown.
Binghamton led once in the game, 1-0, after knocking down a free-throw on the second possession of the game. From that point on, the Govs went on a 17-7 run to establish a lead that they would not surrender for the rest of the game.
With time running down in the first quarter, Tahanee Bennell buried a three-pointer at the buzzer that would give the Governors a 23-15 lead and all of the momentum going into the second quarter. The Bearcats’ knocked down a three-pointer to start the second quarter, but the Govs answered that with a 12-0 run, highlighted by a pair of Shay-Lee Kirby triples, to extend the lead to 17.
With 4:23 left in the half, Binghamton cut the lead to 13 before the Governors took off on another run. This time a 10-3 sprint to the end of the half, punctuated with a Gabby Gregory three-pointer with 23 seconds left that gave the Govs their first 20 point lead of the day.
The Governors didn’t miss a beat in the second half, scoring the first seven points out of the break to extend their lead to 27 – the largest of the day. Despite the 27 point lead, the Governors never let up defensively, holding Binghamton to just 40 points through the first three quarters.
To start the fourth quarter, Binghamton finally put together their first run of the day, cutting the Governor lead to 13. But that is as close as the Bearcats could get, as the Govs responded with buckets on their next three possessions. The Govs and Bearcats traded buckets the rest of the way, as the Governors closed out a first round win at the FIU Holiday Hoops Showdown.
The Difference
Shutting down Kai Moon. The Binghamton guard entered the game as the 10th best scorer in the country, averaging 21.5 points per game. The Govs held her to 13 points, with seven of them coming at the free-throw line. Moon shot 2-of-13 (15%) from the floor, and 2-of-8 (25%) from three-point range. She was never able to get it going, thanks to the defensive effort of the Govs back-court players.
APSU Notably
The APSU Governors bench continued its dominance, outscoring the Bearcats 49-21. Today the Govs reserves were led by Tahanee Bennell, who posted 15 points and 6 assists off the bench.
D’Shara Booker posted career-highs in points (10) and rebounds (12), en route to her first career double-double.
The Governors shot 48.4 percent from the floor, their best since they played Mississippi Valley State, November 18th.
Austin Peay State University pulled down double-digit offensive rebounds for the seventh time this season.
The Govs knocked 10 three-pointers, it was the first time they had been in double-digits since they took on Evansville, November 21st, in the Dunn Center.
Next Up For APSU Women’s Basketball
The Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 1:00pm, when they take on host-school Florida International. The Panthers defeated Grambling State, 56-55, in the first game of the day. It will be the first-ever meeting between the APSU Govs and Panthers when they play for the FIU Holiday Hoops Showdown crown.
