CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ? Sophomore Ashley Herring scored a game-high 21 points to lead Austin Peay State University women's basketball team to a 61-50 Ohio Valley Conference victory at Southeast Missouri, Thursday night, at the Show Me Center.

Austin Peay (3-4, 1-0 OVC) opened the second half with 14-8 scoring run, Herring scoring all of the run's 14 points. She had three three-point field goals, a traditional three-point play and a field goal in the spurt that gave the Lady Govs a 42-31 lead at the 12:04 mark. The Lady Govs would push their advantage to 16 points, 50-34, at the 9:06 mark after five straight points by junior Nicole Jamen.

Southeast Missouri (3-3, 0-1 OVC) would get as close as eight points, 58-50, with 1:16 remaining, but did not score the game's remainder. Austin Peay made three of its four free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

The Lady Govs opened the game with an 8-2 run in the opening four minutes. Southeast Missouri later responded with a 10-2 run over 5:28 to take its largest lead, 18-15, with 7:02 left in the half. But Austin Peay immediately countered with a 13-2 scoring run of its own over the next six minutes to build a eight-point, 28-20, lead with 1:02 left. The Redhawks scored the half's final four points to cut the APSU lead to five points, 28-23, at halftime.

Herring's 21 points, a season high by an APSU player this season, came on 8-of-15 field goal shooting, including a 4-of-7 effort from three-point range. Jamen added 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Freshman Whitney Hanley chipped in 10 points off the bench.

Austin Peay made a season-best 47.9 percent (23-of-48) of its field goals, including 47.1 percent (8-of-17) of its three-point field goals. The Lady Govs added a 34-27 rebounding advantage which including a 10-6 lead on the offensive glass.

Tarina Nixon led Southeast Missouri with 16 points. Crysta Glenn added 13 points and seven rebounds.

Austin Peay closes out its four-game road trip with a 3 p.m., Saturday contest at Eastern Illinois.