CLARKSVILLE – Just like last season's matchup between Austin Peay State University women's basketball and Eastern Kentucky, it was three-pointers and forced turnovers that were the difference for the Governors, who connected 10 times from three-point range and forced the Colonels to turn the ball over 26 times on the way to a 69-51 win, Saturday, in the Winfield Dunn Center.
Three-point shooting was the story of the first half and that's how the Governors got the scoring started when Myah LeFlore found a wide open Brianah Ferby for three on the second offensive possession of the game. Brianah Ferby would get a layup on the next trip down the floor before Maggie Knowles hit her back-to-back triples to get the Govs offense rolling.
After Eastern Kentucky's Anysa Jordan hit a jumper to cut the Govs lead to seven with 5:16 left in the first quarter, Nina De Leon Negron connected on a three to give Austin Peay its first double-digit lead of the day. With a 1:38 left to play in the quarter, Knowles drilled her third three-pointer of the frame to extend the Austin Peay lead to 13.
After a pair of free throws from Brianah Ferby stretched the Austin Peay lead to 15 with under a minute left in the period, Jordan would knock down a free throw for the Colonels to trim the deficit to 14 points after 10 minutes of action.
Kelen Kenol got the second period started by posting up and scoring two of her season-high 12 points, before Eastern Kentucky's Amerah Steele connected on Eastern Kentucky's only three-point field goal of the first half. The Steele triple was the last time the Colonels would score for just over four minutes, as Kenol would find her way to the basket again on the next possession, sparking a 10-0 Austin Peay run.
The run saw Brianah Ferby and Knowles connect on their second and fourth three-pointers of the game, respectively; before a Tahanee Bennell steal led to an Ella Sawyer layup to cap off the scoring surge. At the end of the run, the Govs held a 23-point advantage – the biggest of the game – with just over five minutes left in the half.
However, Eastern Kentucky would close out the first half on a 9-2 run of their own, trimming the Austin Peay lead to just 16 points at the break.
A spell of cold shooting hindered Austin Peay in the third quarter, as the Governors went 0-for-7 from three-point range and shot 30.8 percent from the floor in the period. However, the Govs defense stepped up and forced 6 turnovers in the frame, holding the Colonels to just 15 points and keeping the Austin Peay advantage at 14 points heading into the final 10 minutes.
After two quick buckets for Eastern Kentucky cut the deficit to 10 to start the final period, Austin Peay was able to regain the hot-shooting touch that it had lost in the third quarter. With 7:25 left in the game, Knowles and Brianah Ferby drilled three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to extend the Govs lead to 14.
The Governors and Colonels would go on to trade baskets until the 3:59 mark in the period, when a Steele jumper cut the Austin Peay lead to a dozen and marked the final bucket of the game for Eastern Kentucky. The Govs closed on a 6-0 run, capped off by Knowles a triple – her sixth of the contest – with eight seconds left to put the game on ice and improve to 2-0 in OVC play.
The Difference
The three-point shot. Austin Peay came into the contest shooting 34.4 percent from three-point range, while Eastern Kentucky was holding teams to just 24.6 percent shooting from behind the arc – something had to give. The Colonels were able to hold the Govs to a 28.6 percent clip from deep, but the Govs knocked down ten triples and outscored Eastern Kentucky 30-6 from three-point land in the contest.
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Notably
- Austin Peay picked up its fifth-straight win over Eastern Kentucky, but the Govs still trail in the all-time series, 36-47.
- For the first time since the 2018-19 season, the Govs started the Ohio Valley Conference slate with back-to-back wins.
- The Governors improved to 3-3 in OVC home openers under David Midlick, with all three of those wins coming against Eastern Kentucky.
- Midlick improves to 6-2 against Eastern Kentucky during his time at Austin Peay, his five-straight wins against the Colonels matches his longest active winning streak against an OVC opponent (Tennessee State).
- Just 14 days after Austin Peay forced Murray State, Dec. 19, to turn the ball over 26 times, the Govs forced Eastern Kentucky to turn the ball over 26 times in today's match up.
- With 22 and 20 points respectively, Maggie Knowles and Brianah Ferby became the second Govs duo to score 20+ points in the same game this season –Ferby and Shay-Lee Kirby scored 26 and 24 points, respectively, in the season opener at North Alabama, Nov. 25.
- Knowles scored a season-high 22 points and matched her season-high of 6 three-pointers, marking the third 20-point performance and the fourth 5+ three-pointer game of her career.
- Brianah Ferby's 20-point outing marked the fifth 20-point game and the 31st double-figures scoring performance of her career – both are team highs.
- Brandi Ferby led the Governors with a season-high with 6 assists, she has now led Austin Peay in assists 21 times in her career.
- Tahanee Bennell matched her career-high with 6 rebounds in the contest, marking the first time in her career she has led the Govs on the glass.
Quotably, Coach Midlick
On this season… "You have to be ready each day. You are hoping and crossing your fingers that when your tests come back, you are good too go. When it is time to play, we have got to be ready. We were excited to get back at home and play a game, it has been a while since we played, and it is a short turn around for Monday night."
On the Govs offense… "I like to have balanced scoring, and I think tonight we went through some dry spells. I think in the third we were 0-7 from three, but when you feel that you have some different players that can put the ball in the basket, it just takes one or two to get rolling. I think it was Maggie and Bri who hit two big threes early in the fourth when it was a close game to give us a little bit of breathing room. But we absolutely have some ladies on the team that can score the ball."
Up Next
The Governors will embark on a five-game OVC road trip that will take them to Tennessee State, SIUE, Eastern Illinois, UT Martin and Southeast Missouri before returning home Jan. 21 against Tennessee Tech. A rescheduled game against Tennessee State is the first leg of the Governors road swing, as they are set to play a 5 p.m., Jan. 4 contest against the Lady Tigers at the Gentry Center in Nashville.
