MURRAY, Ky. ? Sophomore Janay Armstrong scored a career-high 18 points but Austin Peay State University women's basketball team saw its losing streak hit eight games with an 81-59 Ohio Valley Conference loss at Murray State, Thursday night.

The losing streak is Austin Peay's longest in 10 seasons, equaling an eight-game streak during the 1998-99 campaign. The Lady Govs fall to 4-11 overall and 1-5 in league action. Murray State won for just the second time in six games, improving to 11-5 overall and 5-3 in conference play.

Austin Peay started off slowly and was behind by nine points, 13-4, after the opening six minutes. Head coach Carrie Daniels inserted four freshmen and Armstrong and watched her team roar back with an 11-4 run over the next five minutes ? sparked by six points from Armstrong ? to close within two points, 17-15, at the 11:31 mark. However, Murray State produced a 12-4 run over a six-minute span to build its first double-digit advantage, 34-24, with 3:39 left and went on to hold a 12-point margin, 42-30, at halftime.

Things did not improve for the Lady Govs in the second half as the Racers broke out of the gates with an 11-5 run to grab an 18-point margin less than five minutes into the period. The lead would reach 23 points, 62-39, with 10:24 remaining and Murray State would not be threatened the rest of the way.

Austin Peay was unable to contain Murray State's two-headed monster ? juniors Amber Guffey and Ashley Hayes, who entered the contest ranked first and third, respectively, among conference scorers. Guffey did her damage in the first half, scoring 19 points on 7-of-10 field-goal shooting and finished with 25 points. Hayes came alive in the second half with 12 points on 5-of-11 field-goal shooting in the period and finished with 20 points.

Meanwhile, Armstrong was on her way to a career night, opening the game with 12 first-half points on 6-of-11 field-goal shooting. Armstrong added six points in the second half on a 3-of-6 field performance. She added a career-high seven rebounds in her 22 minutes of action.

Austin Peay returns to action when it hosts Southeast Missouri in a 5:15 p.m., Saturday, contest at the Dunn Center.

 

- AP -