THE LEAD
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Senior Tiasha Gray finished with 27 points but could not lead Austin Peay State University women's basketball team past East Tennessee in an 80-76 nonconference loss, Monday night at Brooks Gymnasium.

WHO GOVERNED
Gray led all scorers with a 27-point outing – her 27th career 20-point effort. She scored APSU's first five points to reach the 1,500-point plateau, becoming the fifth APSU player to reach that milestone. Gray also had four rebounds and four assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Austin Peay led by five points entering the fourth quarter but got involved in a shootout in the final frame. APSU and ETSU battled through four ties and seven lead changes in the final 10 minutes, three of those lead changes occurred in the final two minutes.

Gray gave APSU its final lead when she coverted a pair of free throws with 41 seconds left. But ETSU regained the lead on its next possession when Shamauria Bridges hit a contested three-pointer. Austin Peay could not get the ball to bounce its way on its final two shots and dropped its 10th straight game.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Junior center Tearra Banks, who was the nation's 10th-most accurate shooter entering the night, scored 19 points on 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) shooting, edging her season shooting percentage up to 62.4 percent.

Freshman guard Keisha Gregory, who was playing in her hometown, made her first career start. She finished with five points and two assists in 27 minutes.

Junior forward Sydney Gooch led Austin Peay with a six-rebound outing, chipping in nine points on 4-of-7 shooting.

Eight different APSU players scored in the contest out of nine players that saw the court.

THE FULL RECAP
Austin Peay (2-11) brought a five-point, 56-51, lead into the fourth quarter only to watch East Tennessee erase the deficit with a 6-1 run to start the fourth. Gray willed Austin Peay back to a five-point lead with a jumper and three-pointer on the next two possessions for a 62-57 lead at the 8:07 mark.

East Tennessee (7-6) withstood Gray's charge and went on a 10-0 run over the next 3:13 to build its own five-point advantage. The Govs came up empty of four straight possessions during the drought. Meanwhile, ETSU's Tatiana Tarter scored seven points during the run, her free throw at the 4:43 mark setting up the closing stanza.

The Govs whittled away at the deficit from the free-throw line, sophomore forward Sydney Gooch tying the game with a conventional three-point play with 3:01 left. The two teams then traded blows over the next two minutes, Austin Peay gaining a one-point, 76-75, advantage after Gray hit a pair of free throws with 41 seconds left.

East Tennessee's Shamauria Bridges gave ETSU the lead for good when she made a contested three-pointer on the ensuing possession. Austin Peay's Gray then drove down the lane for a running jumper but it bounced off the rim. Tarter then converted a pair of free throws to seal the victory.

The late ETSU charge was foreshadowed in the opening quarter which saw the Buccaneers make five of six to take a 22-13 lead at the first break. Austin Peay stormed back in the second, making four straight shots to start the frame and carried the momentum to a 38-35 halftime lead. Neither team could gain an edge in a ragged third quarter which left APSU with a five-point advantage.

Gray led all scorers with 27 points – her third 20-point outing this season – on 10-of-21 shooting, including 3-of-7 from three-point range. Junior center Tearra Banks added 19 points, making 7-of-11 from the floor.

Tarter led ETSU with 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting. Chandler Christopher and Kendrick each added 13 points. The Buccaneers won the rebounding battle, 41-31, thanks to a staggering 17 offensive rebounds that led to 17 second-chance points.

Austin Peay will take an 11-day break for the Christmas holiday before returning to action with a Jan. 2 Ohio Valley Conference home contest against Eastern Kentucky at the Dunn Center.