Boiling Springs, NC – For the third-straight game, Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team never trailed, as the Governors used a season-high 25 points from Yamia Johnson to beat Gardner-Webb, 73-62, Saturday at Paul Porter Arena.
The Governors built their biggest lead of the first quarter, 12-4, after Pace knocked down a jumper in the paint, Johnson stole a pass on the ensuing Runnin’ Bulldog’s possession, and De Leon Negron converted another fast-break layup to push the advantage to eight points with 3:50 left on the clock.
Liz Gibbs scored the final three points of the first quarter for the Governors, but Gardner-Webb was able to cut into the advantage and Austin Peay led, 15-11, after ten minutes of basketball.
After trading baskets on the first four possessions of the second quarter, Lyric Cole scored two of her 12 points with 6:51 left in the second quarter, starting a 10-0 Austin Peay run that would span the next 3:23 of the contest. The rest of the run was all Johnson, as the 5-11 senior hit a jumper in the lane before drilling back-to-back three-pointers to put the Governors ahead, 29-16, with 3:28 left before halftime.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs were able to trim the Govs lead to just 11 points with 2:21 left in the half, but a Johnson layup started another run – an 8-0 stretch that lasted just 1:38. After a Sawyer bucket, Johnson drilled her third three-pointer of the quarter and Gibbs converted a layup to give Austin Peay State University its first 2-point advantage, 42-22, with 31 seconds left before the break.
Gardner-Webb was able to knock down a pair of free throws to end the first half, but the Governors led 42-24, at halftime. Johnson led Austin Peay State University with 17 points while going 5-of-6 from the floor, 3-for-3 from three-point range, and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line in the second quarter.
Cole and Kasey Kidwell layups got the second-half scoring started, pushing the Austin Peay State University lead to 46-24 with 7:51 left in the third period. After a Lauren Bevis triple brought Gardner-Webb with 18 points with 3:28 left in the quarter, Pace connected from three-point range before back-to-back Johnson layups gave the Governors a 25-point lead, 57-32, with 2:03 left in the frame.
The Govs matched their 25-point advantage – the biggest of the game – when Kaiden Glenn converted a layup with 12 seconds left in the third quarter, but Gardner-Webb knocked down a three-pointer with just five seconds left and Austin Peay led, 61-39, with ten minutes left to play.
After a Cole layup put the Governors ahead, 65-44, with 5:51 left on the clock, APSUy went scoreless for the next 3:58 of the game. The Runnin’ Bulldogs capitalized on the Govs’ untimely cold spell and went on a 15-0 run, bringing the score to 65-59 with 1:53 left to play.
Leading by just six points, Pace put an end to the Gardner-Webb run with a jumper in the lane at the 1:53 mark in the fourth quarter. The Runnin’ Bulldogs would cut the deficit to six points once more, but that was as close as they would get, with De Leon Negron, Gibbs, and Pace combing to make six-straight free throws down the stretch and give Austin Peay State University its third-straight wire-to-wire victory.
The Difference
Pretty simple, Austin Peay State University made its shots. The Govs took four fewer shots from the floor than Gardner-Webb but made nine more field goals than the Runnin’ Bulldogs. The Governors shot 44.4 percent from the floor, while Gardner-Webb shot just 28.4 percent from the field.
Next Up For APSU Women’s Basketball
The Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team returns to the Dunn Center Tuesday, December 21st, 2021 to play UT Southern. The tip-off is at 2:00pm CT.
Box Score
Austin Peay 73, Gardner-Webb 62
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
| Austin Peay | 15 | 27 | 19 | 12 | 73 |
| Gardner-Webb | 11 | 13 | 15 | 23 | 62 |
