CLARKSVILLE- Austin Peay State University women's basketball team closes out the calendar year with a trip to Evansville, 6 p.m., Tuesday.
The Governors (5-5) last played on Dec. 9, where they defeated Alabama A&M in wire-to-wire fashion, 75-58.
Keisha Gregory led all scorers with 21 points, but the Govs also got solid contributions from Arielle Gonzalez-Varner (13 points) and Nieja Crawford, who recorded her second career double-double (12 points, 14 rebounds), with the 14 rebounds a career-high.
The Govs also continue to be a nationally regarded three-point shooting team, as they come into the contests still ranked in the top 20 in total three-pointers made and three-pointers made per game. However, the Govs must shoot better on the road. Still looking for their first road win, the Govs have only shot better than their season average once in four road games from beyond the arc and have been below their overall season field goal percentage in every road game as well.
However, one area that has definitely seen an improvement for Austin Peay is its free-throw shooting. The Govs have shot over 70 percent from the line in its past five games, led by Gregory, who is on pace to be the all-time leader in free-throw percentage.
Opponent Spotlight
The Purple Aces (1-8) have not had a great start to the season and only scored 30 points in a loss to Dayton in their most recent game. The Purple Aces have also played four Ohio Valley Conference foes in SIUE, Murray State, Morehead State, and Southeast Missouri, losing all four. Evansville has been much better at home than on the road—despite losing all four games to start the year, every loss has been by single digits.
The Purple Aces are led by Kerri Gasper, who averages 13.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest. While her numbers seem menacing from a defensive standpoint, Gasper has taken 55 more shots than the next Evansville player and shoots less than 30 percent from the field.
Playing in Evansville has haunted the Govs in recent times, with APSU not having won a game there since 2001, including losing to SIUE in the first round of the OVC Tournament last season at the Ford Center. Despite leading the overall series, 11-8, the Govs are just 3-7 against the Purple Aces when not playing in the friendly confines of the Dunn Center. The Govs did get a decisive 82-73 win against Evansville at home last season, with Brianah Ferby leading the Govs with 17 points.
How to Follow Along
The game will be broadcast on ESPN3. Scott Chase will also be calling the radio broadcast on ESPN Clarksville and live stats will be provided by Evansville. Follow @AustinPeayWBB on Twitter to keep up with all the latest updates.
