INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.  – Senior Yamia Johnson scored a season-high 17 points and led an Austin Peay State University women's basketball team that drilled a season-high 10 three-pointers en route to a 68-65 win over Butler, Saturday, at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.
First-year head coach Brittany Young led Austin Peay (3-1) to its third-straight victory and its first road win of the season, handing Butler (0-4) its fourth-straight loss at home to start the season.
After falling behind 8-0 to open the contest, D'Shara Booker scored the first of her season-high ten points to get the Govs on the scoreboard with 6:20 left in the opening frame. Trailing by four with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter, Kasey Kidwell knocked down a pair of free throws with four seconds left on the clock to bring the Govs within two points, 20-18, at the end of the first quarter.
Austin Peay opened the second quarter with an old-fashioned three-point play from Johnson and Kidwell scored four of her season-high 12 points to stretch the advantage to five with 8:24 left before the half. After the Bulldogs trimmed the deficit back to three points, Karle pace drilled a three-pointer for the first of her 13 points to give the Govs their biggest lead of the first half at 28-22 with 6:36 left.
Butler was able to cut into the Austin Peay advantage before the half, but back-to-back triples from Johnson and Kidwell put the lead back at six points, before Butler's Alex Richard scored two of her team-high 17 points to give the Govs a 38-35 halftime lead.
Leading by three to start the third quarter, five-straight points from Pace put the Govs up by eight before a Kidwell triple stretched the lead to 11 with 4:55 left in the quarter. With 1:23 left in the penultimate quarter, Pace and Johnson drilled back-to-back threes to close the frame with Austin Peay holding its biggest lead of the night, 56-42.
Butler started the fourth quarter on a 16-4 run to cut the Austin Peay advantage to just two points. However, back-to-back Booker buckets halted the Butler run and the Govs never allowed the Bulldogs to get closer than two points in the final quarter.
With the lead at three points and less than 20 seconds on the clock, Pace stole a Butler pass and pulled up short of the basket, forcing the Bulldogs to foul with nine seconds on the clock. Pace knocked down both free throws and the Governors held on for their first road win.
The DifferenceÂ
The Austin Peay bench. Yamia Johnson and D'Shara Booker combined to score 27 points off the bench as the Governors reserves outscored the Butler bench, 34-17.
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NotablyÂ
- Brittany Young picked up her third-straight win and the first road win of her coaching career.
- Austin Peay picked up its first win against Butler since the series' first meeting in 1997, it was also the Govs first-ever win at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
- Austin Peay knocked down a season-high 10 three pointers, with five Govs connecting from three-point range.
- The Governors scored 22 points in the paint; they have scored 20-plus points in the paint in three-straight games.
- The Govs bench scored a season-high 34 points and has scored at least 27 points in three-straight contests.
- Yamia Johnson scored a season-high 17 points and led the Govs in scoring for the first time this season, she has scored in double-figures in all four games this season.
- Karle Pace scored 13 points; she has been in double-figures in all four games this season.
- Pace and Nina De Leon Negron each dished out a team-high four assists.
- Kasey Kidwell scored a season-high 12 points in just her second game of the season.
- D'Shara Booker scored in double figures for the first time this season with 10 points, she also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
- Lyric Cole, Ella Sawyer, and Shay-Lee Kirby each recorded a team-high two steals in the contest.
Up NextÂ
Austin Peay will travel to Boca Raton, Florida for the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament where they will play a 1:30 p.m., Nov. 26 contest against Davidson and an 11 a.m., Nov. 27 game against Tulsa. For news and updates on everything Governors women's basketball, follow along on Twitter or Instagram (@GovsWBB) or check back at LetsGoPeay.com.
