CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ? For the second consecutive night, Austin Peay State University women's basketball team played an extra period but it could not extend its win streak, losing 68-66 to Eastern Kentucky in Ohio Valley Conference action, Saturday afternoon.

The loss ends the Lady Govs three-game win streak and they fall to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in conference action. Eastern Kentucky won its third straight contest against Austin Peay and improved to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in league play.

In the overtime period, the two teams battled through four lead changes and two ties. Eastern Kentucky's Crystal Jones made a running jumper to give EKU a 68-66 lead with six seconds remaining. Following an Austin Peay timeout with 4.6 seconds remaining, freshman Ashley Herring dribbled 55 feet and had an uncontested layup, but it hit the side of the rim and fell harmlessly to the court as time expired.

The overtime period seemed unlikely early in the second half as the Lady Colonels built the game's largest lead ? a 16-point, 44-28 lead with 14:37 remaining. EKU opened the half making seven of their first eight shots while APSU was a frigid 1-of-8 during the same span.

However, freshman Alex Bivens' three-point field goal at the 13:55 mark sparked a lead-taking 25-5 scoring run. The Lady Govs would make 9-of-14 field goal attempts over a seven-minute span, including a 5-of-5 effort from three-point range. Bivens would score 11 points during the burst and her field goal with 7:16 remaining gave Austin Peay its first lead of the game. Freshman Ashley Herring's three-point field goal moments later put the APSU lead at four points, 53-49, with 6:50 left.

Austin Peay could not keep its hot shooting going and Eastern Kentucky kept the game close throughout the half's final minutes. Senior Ashley Cazee made two free throws with 1:18 remaining to give EKU a one-point lead. Herring would get to the line with 30 seconds remaining and missed the first of two shots before making the second to tie the game, 60-60. Cazee drove to the basket as the half wound to a close, but her floater with six seconds remaining was blocked by junior April Thomas, preserving the tie.

Eastern Kentucky led throughout the first half and led by as many as nine points, 18-9 with 11:38 remaining. Austin Peay would rally to tie the game at 23-23 with 5:22 left, but could not take the lead.

Bivens led Austin Peay with 19 points, including a 5-of-7 performance from three-point range. Thomas recorded her first collegiate double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Herring added 13 points, five rebounds, four blocked shots and four steals. Senior Ashlee McGee finished with more assists (nine) than the entire EKU lineup (eight).

Eastern Kentucky's Crystal Jones led all scorers with 24 points, making 11-of-16 from the field, and grabbed 10 rebounds. Cazee added 20 points.

Free throws were a large part of the night's story as neither team had an impressive night from the stripe. Austin Peay shot a season-low 45.5 percent (10-of-22) from the free-throw line, including a 3-of-8 (37.5 percent) first-half performance. Eastern Kentucky made just 63.2 percent (12-of-19) of its free throws.

The Lady Colonels won the rebounding battle by an impressive 51-40 margin and used its 17 offensive rebounds to outscore the Lady Govs, 21-10, in second-chance opportunities.

- AP -

Head Coach Carrie Daniels post-game quotes:

On tonight's game:
“Free throws killed us tonight. Games are won or lost on the line and tonight we missed too many to win. To miss that many free-throws against a team like Eastern Kentucky is concentration. There were some positives, we dug a hole and were able to fight our way back. That shows me that our team has some heart and determination in them when they get behind against a team. I thought we had some girls come off the bench and give us a spark, which is good to see. It's hard to lose a game like we did tonight because I felt like we had our chances and didn't get the job done. But I'd rather this happen early in the season, where hopefully, we can correct some of these mistakes.”

On continuing to struggle early on in games:
“Well I think one thing that hurt us early was turnovers. You can't start a basketball game like that. Automatically you put yourself in a position to be behind. You have to give Eastern (Kentucky) credit for knocking down some shots early. They're good basketball team, but we just couldn't get into any rhythm. Early I thought our girls were settling for too many outside shots and wasn't looking into the post. One thing that helped us in the second half was we started to feed the post down low, which opened our shot outside for Alex (Bivens) and our other guards.”

On the play of Eastern Kentucky:
“Well we knew they had great guard play coming into this game. I told our assistants that one thing I wanted to try to prevent is dribble penetration. They have great quickness and good size. Their post players are very active and you can't allow them to get position on the low block. Overall, I thought our team got better defensively as the game went on. There has been a couple of games this season that I wasn't happy with our man-to-man defense but I thought, tonight, that's what really got us back into the game.”

Game Notes: Eastern Kentucky at Austin Peay

• Eastern Kentucky jumped out to an early 6-0 lead.
• Ashlee McGee missed a free throw with 4:49 left in the first half, ending a streak of 12 consecutive made free throws.
• Leading Scorers at the half: Austin Peay ? Nicole Jamen 9 points (season-high); Eastern Kentucky ? Crystal Jones 12 points
• April Thomas recorded her first career double-double at Austin Peay (10 points, 13 rebounds).
• McGee had more assists (9) than the entire Eastern Kentucky team (8).
• Eastern Kentucky opened the second half on a 15-4 run.
• Austin Peay used a 22-5 run to take its first lead with 7:16 remaining in the second half.
• Ashley Herring's free-throw with 30 seconds remaining sent the game into overtime.