JACKSONVILLE - Senior Leslie Martinez scored 16 second-half points to help Austin Peay State University women's basketball team record its first Ohio Valley Conference win, 78-71, against Jacksonville State, Monday night at Mathews Coliseum.

Austin Peay (6-15, 1-7 OVC) trailed by eight points at halftime and Martinez was largely quiet in the opening half, playing just nine minutes and scoring two points. However, the Lady Govs senior guard opened the second half with a bang, scoring the team's first 10 points  - making a jumper, a lay-up, a conventional three-point play and hitting a three-pointer - to pull the Lady Govs back into a tie at 49-49 just 4:23 into the half.

"It wasn't planned to see Leslie play so little in the first half but the players that came off the bench played well," said Lady Govs head coach Carrie Daniels. "When Leslie came out in the second half she got things going for us. It was good to see because we've been flat coming out of the locker room in the second half. We came out tonight and were aggressive and intense - that all started because of Leslie."

The Lady Govs would take the lead for good on sophomore Shira Buley's layup at the 14:45 mark but could not build a secure advantage until late in the contest.  The Lady Govs used a 7-0 run with Martinez and senior Meghan Bussabarger scoring on jumpers to build a 10-point, 72-62, lead with 3:29 left.

However, Jacksonville State scored the game's next six points and slashed that lead to four points, 72-68, less than two minutes later. Bussabarger stopped the run with a fast-break layup and freshman Tiasha Gray secured the six-point lead with another layup and the Gamecocks would not threaten the game's remainder.

Jacksonville State (0-22, 0-10 OVC) nearly shot Austin Peay out of the gym in the opening period, making nine three-pointers and shooting 64.3 percent from outside the arc in the frame. The Gamecocks built a 10-point lead 10 minutes into the period following Amanada McCarty's three-pointer.

Austin Peay's bench pulled it back into the game, scoring the game's next nine points. The Lady Govs reserves accounted for 24 of the team's 39 points in the opening frame. Sophomore Kristen Stainback scored 11 points and Gray added nine points in the half. However, Jacksonville State closed the half with an 8-0 run to take a 47-39 halftime lead.

"I was pleased to see Kristen and Tiasha come off the bench and give us a spark," said Daniels. "Kristen stepped up and hit some threes for us. Tiasha came in and was extremely active on the defensive side - made some things happen. Give Jacksonville State credit they came into the game and shot the ball well but our bench responded."

Martinez led all scorers with 18 points, on 7-of-15 shooting, and handed out a game-best seven assists. Bussabarger added 17 points while Gray chipped in 12 points and seven steals.

Candace Morton led Jacksonville State with 15 points and seven rebounds. Miranda Cantrell and Dashauna Truss each had 10 points. After making nine three-pointers in the opening half, Jacksonville State was 1-of-9 from outside in the second half.

Austin Peay, which also ended a seven-game losing streak with the win, concludes its three-game road trip with a 2:15 p.m., Saturday contest at Murray State.