THE LEAD
CLARKSVILLE – In a game where both offenses were largely unimpeded, Austin Peay State University women's basketball team dropped an 88-69 decision to Western Kentucky, Saturday evening at E.A. Diddle Arena.   

WHO GOVERNED
Sophomore guard Madison Rich finished with a season-best 15 points, making 6-of-13 from the floor. She was just 2-for-6 from three-point range as she exploited the WKU defense for 4-of-7 from inside the arc.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After being held to 29.7 percent shooting in its last outing, Western Kentucky made the most of its second home game, opening with a 71.4 percent shooting performance in the opening half. The Hilltoppers closed the second half with a 10-0 run to build a 48-33 halftime lead.

Austin Peay did not suffer a second-half outage, largely keeping pace with Western Kentucky in the second half, allowing the deficit to grow to 22 points late in the third quarter before settling on the final margin.

INSIDE THE BOX SCOR
Senior guard Tiasha Gray finished with a team-best 17 points, nine coming in the final quarter. She had eight assists and five steals in a 32-minute outing. Gray became just the fourth APSU player to record 400 career steals. In addition, she moved into seventh all-time on the Ohio Valley Conference's all-time steals list, ending the night with 259 steals.

Austin Peay had five players finish with 10 or more points. Gray and Rich leading the effort while sophomore forward Brianne Alexander (15), redshirt freshman guard Falon Baker (10) and junior center Tearra Banks (10).

Both teams finished the game with season-best shooting percentages. Austin Peay's 48.3 percent topped its performance against Division II Christian Brothers. Western Kentucky's 60.3 percent topped a pair of previous top shooting efforts.

THE FULL RECAP
Both offenses had little trouble finding their range from the game's opening tip. Western Kentucky shot a season-best 60.3 percent for the contest, largely thanks to a 71.4 percent shooting performance in the opening half. Austin Peay also posted a season-best shooting effort, but its 48.3 percent performance could not keep pace with the host Hilltoppers.

Western Kentucky (4-2) never trailed in the contest, scoring six straight points to break a 2-2 tie and build an 8-6 lead after Kendall Noble's jumper with 5:23 remaining. The Hilltoppers would extend their lead to 10 points, 24-14, after a Tashia Brown layup with 24 seconds left, but senior guard Tiasha Gray countered with a jumper to end the quarter with APSU trailing by eight.

The Hilltoppers threatened to break the game open early in the second quarter, opening with an 11-4 run to build a 15-point, 35-20 lead. However, Austin Peay battled back with its own 11-1 run as sophomore guard Madison Rich and redshirt freshman Falon Baker combined for a trio of three pointers and a field goal, to get within five points with 3:49 left in the half.

However, Baker's basket at the 3:49 mark would be Austin Peay's (2-8) final field goal of the half. Western Kentucky closed the half with a 10-0 run to rebuild its 15-point advantage (48-33) which it took into the break.

The second half was an offensive stalemate with Austin Peay unable to get the deficit back to single digits while Western Kentucky could not completely break the game open. Both teams shot 50 percent or better in the second half, the only different in the half coming on Western Kentucky's four three pointers in the half.

Rich led Austin Peay with a season-best 17-point performance, including eight points inside the arc. Gray added 17 points and had eight assists and five steals. Three other Govs players reached double-digit scoring territory.

Tashia Brown led Western Kentucky with a game-high 21 points, chipping in seven assists and six rebounds. Noble and reserve Dee Givens each had 16 points.

Austin Peay will take the upcoming week off for finals – its largest layoff between games this season – before returning to action with a 1 p.m. (CT), Saturday contest at Kennesaw State.

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