JACKSONVILLE, Ala. ? Austin Peay State University women's basketball team committed 27 turnovers on its way to a 76-56 loss at Jacksonville State, Thursday night, in Ohio Valley Conference action.
The loss was the Lady Govs 10 in its last 11 outings and they fall to 5-13 overall and 2-7 in league play. Jacksonville State won for just the second time in its last seven games and improved to 8-12 overall and 5-6 in conference action.
Austin Peay broke out of the gates with the game's first six points and maintained that lead to a 10-4 advantage with 15:55 remaining. Jacksonville State promptly closed the gap with the game's next nine points to grab a three-point lead two minutes later. The Lady Govs scored the next six points to take their own three-point lead, 16-13, with 11:12 remaining, before turnovers derailed the offense.
Over the half's final 11 minutes, the Austin Peay offense committed 12 turnovers on its final 19 possessions. However, when the Lady Govs were able to get into their offense, they found success making 4-of-7 field goal attempts in that same span. That offensive success helped keep the halftime score a manageable 38-26.
Jacksonville State opened the second half with a 12-6 scoring run to push its lead to 18 points, 50-32, with 16:06 remaining in the game. Austin Peay would cut the lead back to the halftime margin ? a 12-point, 57-45 margin 11:59 left ? courtesy an 11-5 scoring run, but could get no closer. The Gamecocks pushed the lead back to 19 with a 9-2 scoring push and were not threatened the game's remainder.
McGee led all scorers with 16 points, making 6-of-11 from the field. Sophomore Janay Armstrong added 13 points on 5-of-8 field goal shooting. Junior April Thomas made 7-of-8 from the free-throw line and finished with 11 points.
Charlease Williams scored a career-high 15 points to lead Jacksonville State. Jolie Efezokhae added 11 points as every Gamecocks player who entered the game made a field goal. JSU was 32-of-71 (45.1 percent) from the field, which included a 17-of-33 (51.5 percent) second-half performance.
Austin Peay returns to action with a 4 p.m., Saturday, league contest at Samford.
- AP -
