Austin Peay State University Athletics

If every pilot has its wingman, then Paige Smith was the perfect navigator.
    Smith was the facilitator of the greatest women's basketball era in Austin Peay history. As Brooke Armistead was writing and rewriting the Lady Govs record book and while Gerlonda Hardin joined her as one of the Ohio Valley Conference's greatest basketball players, it was Smith who literally was like a chameleon. She became whatever Coach Susie Gardner and her teammates needed her to be.
    Smith could score; she is seventh all-time in scoring (1324 points), second in three pointers made (243) and was a career 85 percent free-throw shooter, missing just 37 free throws in four seasons. Smith could distribute the basketball; she is third all-time in assists (435). Smith could defend; she is seventh all-time in steals (177).
    More than anything else Smith was dependable; she is APSU's career record holder for starts (119) and minutes played (4144/ 34 mpg). In other words, she was a player Gardner and the Lady Govs had to have on the floor. If Armistead was the team's quiet leader, then Smith was the vocal one. She was Gardner's coaching voice on the floor.
    When Smith came to Austin Peay with Armistead in 1999-00, her job was to provide offense-she was APSU's three-point assassin with her rainbow three pointers. As a freshman, she was counted on to provide offense. Smith responded by averaging a career-best 12.8 points per game, including 72 three pointers to set a Lady Govs single-season record as the Lady Govs finished 15-15 overall, but advanced to the OVC tourney championship contest as a No. 6 seed. Smith was selected to the OVC All-Freshman team and then to the 2000 OVC All-Tournament team after she recorded a double-double (24 points/11 assists) vs. UT Martin in the opening-round tourney game.
    That was a preview for what was to come. A year later, the still-young Lady Govs finished third in the OVC race at 10-6 but roared to the 2001 tournament title, beating top-seed Tennessee Tech, which finished the league race 15-1 that season. The 65-63 OVC title verdict provided APSU's program only its second NCAA tourney appearance, a trip to Tennessee. APSU ended the season at 17-14.   
    Smith concluded that season, her sophomore campaign, averaging 12.3 points per game, knocking down 61 three pointers. She logged 1106 minutes that season, the second most in APSU history.
    As a junior, Smith became only the eighth Lady Gov in program history to join the 1,000-point club, including a career-best 30-point outing against Indiana State. Although her scoring average slipped below double digits, she became an even more vital cog in other areas, developing into the Lady Govs' defensive stopper while improving her rebounding abilities.  
    As a team, the Lady Govs slumped down the stretch, slipping to fourth in the OVC standings after losing their last three OVC games to conclude the OVC season. But again the Lady Govs were able to regroup during OVC tourney time. After defeating Southeast Missouri by nine points to win the tourney's first game-Smith had 14 points-the last two games were decided by just three points. The Lady Govs defeated regular-season co-champions Eastern Kentucky, 78-77, in overtime before again derailing top-seed Tennessee Tech again by two points, 85-83, to win a second straight OVC tourney title. Smith had 11 points in the game while failing to commit a turnover in 36 minutes. That netted APSU a second-straight NCAA trip, this time to Purdue.
         After winning the OVC tourney championship two straight years and playing in two NCAA Tournaments, the Lady Govs senior class of Smith and Armistead had one other goal in mind for 2002-03: a regular-season league title. However, no one could have imagined what was to transpire.
    The Lady Govs not only won that regular-season title, they did it in unprecedented fashion. APSU went 16-0 amidst a 22-game winning streak. The Lady Govs swept away the field during OVC tourney play, no score closer than 15 points, including an 85-61 championship victory against Southeast Missouri.
    That season, Smith took on more point-guard responsibilities. Still she was named to the Unilever All-Tournament team, averaging 18.5 points per game, as APSU defeated host Missouri for the title. She also earned OVC all-tourney after averaging 13.0 points per game to help the Lady Govs earn their third straight NCAA tourney berth, a 72-70 loss to North Carolina in snowy Boulder, Colo.