Austin Peay women's basketball team heads to its “home away from home” when it meets Morehead State in a 2 p.m., Friday semifinal contest of the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball tournament at the recently renamed Bridgestone Arena (formerly the Sommet Center) in Nashville.
The third-seeded Lady Govs return to Bridgestone Arena where they have posted a 7-1 record in OVC tournament play. They will square off against the second-seeded Eagles who were the only OVC team to sweep the Lady Govs during the regular season.
Friday's matchup features two of the league's top-five players. Austin Peay junior Ashley Herring averaged 15.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per league game and picked up first-team All-OVC honors for the first time. Morehead State junior Chynna Bozeman, the OVC's “Player of the Year,” averaged a league-best 18.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in OVC action en route to her second consecutive first-team All-OVC honor.
Morehead State won the two regular-season meetings between the team's with big first-half performances. The Eagles outscored the Lady Govs 40-23 in the season's first meeting en route to a 79-56 victory, Jan. 2. Austin Peay did not fare much better in the second meeting, falling behind 53-31 at halftime before falling by an 88-68 margin, Jan. 31.
The winner of Friday's contest advances to meet the winner of the Eastern Illinois-Tennessee Martin contest in the OVC Women's Basketball Championship game slated for 3 p.m., Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
LADY GOVS IN THE OVC TOURNAMENT
The Lady Govs are the defending OVC Tournament Champions and own a 22-11 record all-time in the tournament. Austin Peay has taken a particular liking to Bridgestone Arena – no matter its name – owning a 7-1 record in OVC tournament games played at the facility. The Lady Govs lone loss was the 2000 championship game against Tennessee Tech. Since then APSU has won six straight, including the 2001, 2002 and 2009 championships.
ABOUT AUSTIN PEAY…
Austin Peay finished the OVC regular-season race in third place with an 11-7 record following its 77-60 victory at Southeast Missouri, Feb. 27. It was just the Lady Govs third OVC road victory – and fourth overall – this season.
In conference play, the Lady Govs ranked fourth in scoring average with 68.0 points per game. Austin Peay made 40.2 percent of its field goals – third-best in the league – but only 29.6 percent of its three-pointers – sixth-best in the conference. The Lady Govs have not been particularly perimeter-oriented offensively, attempting only 24.3 percent of their shots from three-point range – only Eastern Illinois has attempted a lower percentage (22.7) of its shots from outside.
Junior Ashley Herring led the Lady Govs in league play, averaging 15.7 points per game while making 44.9 percent of her field goals. She ranked among the top 10 in six categories: scoring (3rd), blocked shots (5th), free-throw percentage (6th), minutes played (7th), field-goal percentage (7th) and assists (8th).
Inside, the Lady Govs tandem of senior Nicole Jamen and sophomore Jasmine Rayner combined to average 21.9 points and 16.9 rebounds per OVC game. Rayner was second on the team in both scoring (11.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg) while making 46.8 percent of her shots. Jamen was third on the team in scoring (10.9 ppg) and led the team in rebounding (9.2 rpg) while making 46.2 percent of her shots.
The Lady Govs are under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Carrie Daniels who has compiled a 45-76 record, including a 33-43 league record, at her alma mater.
