HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? Freshman Ashley Herring posted her first career double-double and led Austin Peay State University women's basketball team to a 66-57 victory against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the opening round of the Lady Eagle Classic, Friday night.

After Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (0-5) took its largest lead, 48-45, with 8:04 remaining, Austin Peay head coach Carrie Daniels changed defenses ? going from a half-court zone to a full-court trapping defense ? during the following media timeout. That defensive switch forced the Islanders into five turnovers over the next four minutes and also sparked the Lady Govs offense. Austin Peay scored 11 consecutive points ? seven by Herring and four by junior April Thomas ? over that same four-minute span to take a 56-48 lead with 3:58. The Islanders would not recover from their scoring drought as Austin Peay pushed the lead to 11 points with 1:20 remaining before settling on the final margin.

Austin Peay (1-2) controlled the first half, taking the lead from the opening tip. Corpus Christi briefly tied the game at 5-5 but Austin Peay regained the lead on a Herring three-point basket. The lead would reach 12 points, 00-00, with 5:11 remaining. The Lady Govs took a 33-26 at halftime as freshman Alex Bivens' posted 11 points in the half on 3-of-6 three-point shooting. Herring had seven points and four rebounds at the break and freshman Salem Richardson chipped in five points.

After the break, the Lady Govs offense got off to a slow start and the Islanders capitalized, piecing together a 13-5 run to take their first lead of the game, 39-38, with 13:48 remaining. Thomas answered right back with a field goal and the Lady Govs held the lead until a Deziree Green three-point field goal gave the Islanders their second lead. Elisa Beagle's field-goal pushed the TAMCC lead to its largest margin with 8:04 remaining, before APSU answered with its decisive scoring run.

“I believe we executed a lot better in the first half,” said Daniels. “But they switched defenses in the second half and we went away from what was working for us. We got away from our game plan. What got us back in the game was when we decided to pick up our defensive intensity we went back to our full court press and got some key steals and big rebounds.”

Herring finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds ? both game highs ? for her first collegiate double-double. Bivens finished a season-high 19 points, including a 5-of-8 effort from three-point range. Thomas added nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds, including a team-best seven offense rebounds. Senior Ashlee McGee had a game-high eight assists along with four points, four rebounds and three steals.

“It was a pretty ugly win, but we'll take it,” said Daniels. “I felt like Ashley Herring stepped it up especially late in the second half on the boards. She got some crucial rebounds and took control of the game. April showed what she is capable of when she's not in foul trouble tonight. Alex has been solid for us this season and she continued to play consistently.”

Austin Peay was out-shot 42 percent (21-of-50) to 38 percent (23-of-60), but overcame that with 10 more field-goal attempts created by 20 offensive rebounds and forcing two more turnovers (a 17-15 advantage) than it committed.

Mercedes Cooper led the Islanders with 14 points, five rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. Elisa Beagle added 12 points, including 10 second-half points.

Austin Peay advances to face host Southern Miss in an 8 p.m., Saturday, championship contest. That game can be heard on WVRY 105.1 FM in West Tennessee and Western Kentucky as well as on the internet via APSUGovernors.com.

- AP -