EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Austin Peay State University women's basketball team erased a double-digit first-half deficit with a 13-0 run that closed the first half and opened the second, but an untimely cold stretch in the fourth quarter allowed Evansville to come back and knock off the Governors, 62-52, Tuesday at Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

Brittany Young's first game as the head women's basketball coach at Austin Peay (0-1) saw Evansville (1-0) shoot 83.3 percent from the floor in the first quarter to build a 24-14 lead after ten minutes of action.

Austin Peay opened the second quarter with a pair of Karle Pace free throws and a Shay-Lee Kirby three-pointer to cut the Evansville lead to just five points with 8:12 left in the first half. However, the Purple Aces responded with an 11-2 run of their own to build a 14-point lead – the biggest of the first half – with 3:44 left on the clock.

Trailing by 14, the Governors began to make their move, starting with a Yamia Johnson jumper with 3:15 left before the break. Ella Sawyer knocked down a jump shot with 2:23 left in the half before a pair of Johnson free throws brought the Govs within eight points. The final points of the first half came when Nina De Leon Negron stole a Purple Aces' pass and hit a layup to cut the deficit to 35-29 at the break.

After the 8-0 run to close the first half, a Lyric Cole layup and a Pace triple opened the second half to complete a 13-point swing for the Governors, who trailed by just one, 35-34, less than two minutes into the third quarter.

Evansville ended its scoreless drought when Abby Feit scored two of her game-high 21 points with 7:31 left in the third quarter. With 4:54 left in the third frame, Johnson pulled down a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup to cut the Evansville lead to one.

Two possessions later, D'Shara Booker pulled down an offensive rebound that led to a De Leon Negron three-pointer to give the Governors their first lead of the night, 41-39, with 3:39 left in the third quarter. The De Leon Negron triple capped a 20-4 Austin Peay run that spanned from the 3:44 mark in the second quarter to the 3:39 mark in the third quarter and saw the Govs erase a 14-point deficit and take the lead.

After an Evansville bucket tied the game at 41, Pace and Liz Gibbs combined to score the final five points of the third quarter and give Austin Peay a 46-41 lead with 10 minutes left to play.

Johnson opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a put-back layup that gave the Governors their biggest lead of the night at 48-41. After a Cole bucket put Austin Peay back up by seven with 8:38 left to play, the Govs went scoreless for the next eight minutes of the contest, while the Purple Aces closed the game on a 19-2 run to comeback and pick up a win in the season opener.

The Difference

Evansville outscored Austin Peay 25-13 off turnovers and 24-6 on fast-break points, the two go hand-in-hand. The Purple Aces forced 22 turnovers and found their points quickly in transition.

Notably

• Transfers Yamia Johnson and Karle Pace led the Govs with 14 points each, Pace also dished out a team-high three assists.
• Austin Peay outrebounded Evansville, 52-34, the 52-rebound performance would have been the Governors best single-game total last season and is the best single-game mark since the Govs pulled down 54 rebounds against Brescia (12/6/14).
• D'Shara Booker led the Govs with a career-high 11 rebounds, with seven of her rebounds coming on the offensive end.
• The Govs outrebounded the Purple Aces, 26-11, on the offensive glass and outscored Evansville, 24-10, on second-chance points.
• Johnson pulled down nine rebounds and missed a double-double in her Austin Peay debut by just a single point.
• Freshman Lyric Cole started for the Govs in her collegiate debut, scoring eight points and pulling down seven rebounds, while shooting 75 percent from the floor.
• Nina De Leon Negron led the Governors on the defensive end with a career-high four steals.

Quotably, Coach Young

Opening thoughts… "There are a lot of things to learn from tonight and we will be back at it on Friday. I am excited to get back in the film room and on the practice court tomorrow so we can make some adjustments. I think we showed some resiliency in the second and third quarters… When you look at the first quarter and the fourth quarter, giving up 20-plus points, for a team like us that is not going to get the job done. So, again, we will get back to the drawing board and just work on minor things and minor details. Defensive positioning, transition defense, and small things like that that we definitely feel like cost us the game."

Moving forward…"There are some things that we can take here and build on, you look at the second and third quarters, we played defense like the way we have to play defense to win ballgames. In the first and fourth quarters, we didn't, I think it's that simple."

Up Next

Young and the Governors will make their Dunn Center debut when they square off against Pikeville in a 6 p.m., Friday contest. Austin Peay will then host North Alabama for a 6 p.m., Nov. 16 tilt before closing November with three-straight games on the road. For news and updates on everything Governors women's basketball, follow along on Twitter or Instagram (@GovsWBB) or check back at LetsGoPeay.com.