CLARKSVILLE – 25 points for Karle Pace and 22 points for Yamia Johnson… that's what it took for the Austin Peay State University women's basketball team to finally bring an end to a nine-game losing streak, which dated back to 2015, against Belmont with a 70-68 victory, Thursday, in a Red Out at the Winfield Dunn Center.

Austin Peay (13-5, 6-2 OVC) came out red hot in the final Ohio Valley Conference regular-season meeting against Belmont (10-7, 6-2 OVC). After Pace knocked down a jumper in the paint and hit a three-pointer on the first two possessions of the game, a Lyric Cole layup gave the Govs a 7-0 lead at the 6:35 mark in the opening quarter.

After a Destinee Wells three-pointer ended the Bruins game-opening scoring drought, Pace buried another three-pointer to give the Governors their largest lead of the game, 12-3, with 4:37 left in the first period. Austin Peay would build a nine-point advantage twice more in the first quarter, however, the Bruins closed the opening period on a 5-0 run and Austin Peay led, 17-13, after 10 minutes of basketball.

A Shay-Lee Kirby three-pointer opened the second half and put the Govs ahead, 20-13, but a 7-0 Belmont run erased the advantage and tied the contest, 20-20, with 6:22 left. Austin Peay halted the Bruins' run when Pace connected on a jumper in the paint with 5:08 left on the clock and the teams began trading baskets for the final five minutes of the first half.

With Austin Peay leading, 25-24, with 1:35 left before the break, Belmont's Tuti Jones got the final points of the opening half when she connected from three-point range to give the Bruins a 27-25 lead after 20 minutes of action.

Austin Peay retook the lead, 28-27, on the second half's possession when Nina De Leon Negron connected from three-point range just 30 seconds in the quarter. But three-pointers on three-straight possessions gave Belmont its biggest lead of the contest, 36-30, at the 7:55 mark in the third period. However, the Governors quickly erased the Belmont lead with a three-pointer from Kirby, a two-pointer jumper from Pace, a layup from Johnson, and just like that, the Govs led, 37-36, with 6:03 left on the clock.

But the Bruins answered again, burying their fourth-straight triple without a miss to retake a 39-37 lead with 5:41 left in the third quarter. Like the second quarter, the end of the third quarter saw the Govs and Bruins trade buckets. Austin Peay was able to create a little separation with eight seconds left in the third period when D'Shara Booker knocked down a free throw to go ahead, 50-46. However, it was two Belmont free throws with six seconds left in the third quarter that cut the advantage to just two points, 50-48, at the start of the fourth period.

At the 7:46 mark in the final quarter, Austin Peay trailed 51-50, but the two sides began to trade baskets when Cole knocked down quick back-to-back buckets to give the Governors a 54-51 lead with 6:37 left in the game.

Wells connected from three-point range again to tie the game, 54-54, then it was two free throws from De Leon Negron to retake a two-point lead for the Govs, but again the Bruins answered with a Kiki Britzmann layup to even the score at 56-56 with 5:33 left.

Then the tide began to turn.

Like in the Governors dramatic 72-69 win over Tennessee State just five days previous, it was a four-point play that put the momentum squarely behind first-year head coach Brittany Young's team. This time, however, the four-point ignited the sea of red in the Dunn Center as Pace buried a deep three-pointer, drew the foul, and connected at the charity stripe for a 60-56 lead with 5:05 left in the game.

A Belmont free throw brought the lead back to three points before Johnson hit two free throws of her own to push the advantage back to five points. Then it was another Pace triple that gave Austin Peay its biggest lead of the second half, 65-57, with just 3:10 left to play.

Belmont would not go away quietly though, as the Bruins scored five quick points to bring the Governors' advantage back to just three points at the 2:01 mark. A Conley Chinn layup with 18 seconds remaining brought Belmont back within a single point, but the Bruins were forced to foul Pace on the next possession and the Clarksville native buried both free ones to stretch the lead back to three, 69-66 with 14 seconds left to play.

With a chance to tie the game, the Bruins opted to go for two and Jones missed a layup with 10 seconds on the clock. Kirby grabbed the rebound on the missed Belmont layup and was immediately fouled, she proceeded to knock down the first of her two free throws and extend the lead to 70-66 with just three seconds to play.

With the Governors lead by four, a Belmont layup as time expired was too little, too late, as Austin Peay won its fourth-straight OVC contest and handed the Bruins their second-consecutive OVC loss.

The Difference 

The Dunn Center. The Red Out. The 982 Austin Peay fans that brought the energy to Dave Loos Court.

From the Twitterverse

Notably 

• Austin Peay improved to 7-17 all-time against Belmont and 5-6 against the Bruins in games played in Clarksville.
• Austin Peay beat Belmont for the first time since a 72-59 victory on Jan. 15, 2015.
• In the final regular-season Ohio Valley Conference game between Austin Peay and Belmont, the Governors picked up their second-ever conference victory against the Bruins.
• Belmont was ranked No. 18 in the CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 and Thursday's win was the first for head coach Brittany Young against a team ranked in that poll.
• Austin Peay improved to 8-1 at the Winfield Dunn Center this season, the Governors .889 winning percentage at home this season is the top mark in the OVC.
• The Governors won their fourth-straight OVC contest and matched Tennessee Tech for the longest active winning streak in the league.
• The last time the Govs won four-straight conference games was a part of a five-game winning streak to open OVC play during the 2020-21 season.
• Austin Peay handed Belmont its second-consecutive conference loss, the Bruins had gone 107-consecutive OVC games without back-to-back losses – the last time it happened was when they lost two-straight games to open OVC play during the 2015-16 season.  
• Austin Peay outscored Belmont, 28-24 in the paint. The Governors are a perfect 10-0 this season when they win the battle in the paint.
• The Governors outscored the Bruins, 17-10, in points off turnovers, improving to 10-1 this season when they score more points off turnovers than their opponent.
• The Govs shot 51.1 percent (23-45) from the floor, it is the ninth time this season they have shot better than 50 percent from the field and they are 7-2 in those contests.
• Austin Peay shot 53.3 percent (8-15) from behind the arc. The Govs have shot better than 50 percent from three-point range in back-to-back contests and are 5-1 this season when they shoot better than 40 percent from three-point distance this season.
• The Governors held Belmont to just 68 points. Austin Peay has held 16-of-18 opponents to less than 70 points this season.
• Karle Pace and Yamia Johnson scored 25 and 23 points, respectively, and are the first Austin Peay duo to score 20-plus points in a single game since Maggie Knowles and Brianah Ferby scored 22 and 20 points, respectively, against Eastern Kentucky (1/2/21).
• Pace scored a season-high 25 points, she has not scored 20-plus points in back-to-back games since she scored 27 points against Morehead State (2/8/20) and 21 points against SIUE (2/13/20) while playing for Eastern Illinois.
• Pace buried a season-high four three-pointers, matching the best single-game performance by a Gov this season.
• After scoring a season-low four points at Tennessee State last time out, Johnson bounced back with her team-leading fourth 20-point performance of the season.
• Ella Sawyer and Johnson each grabbed a team-high five rebounds, Sawyer has pulled down at least five boards in eight of Austin Peay's last 11 games.
• Sawyer also dished out a team-high four assists, she has now led the Govs in helpers seven times this season.

Quotably, Coach Young

On the start of her head-coaching career… … "It's so new and everything is kind of just happening, but it is crazy, because when we beat SIUE last week that felt like the one. When we beat Tennessee State on Saturday, that felt like a great win as well. I think that I am just enjoying the journey and the process of our team because I am just watching them grow every single game and I think that's what I'm most pleased with overall."

On Karle Pace and Yamia Johnson… "I say it all the time, they are proven in this conference and they have done this before. The thing that I am most proud of is the efficiency they are both playing with right now. They are hitting big shots, they are making big plays, but they are not doing it at a high volume and just throwing up bad shots. They are picking and choosing their moments, they are making great decisions, and it is fun to see. I am glad they are with us and not against us, I can definitely say that."

Moving forward… "I think our message has been the same all along, it's not so much about our opponent as it is about us. Just making sure that we stick to the things that brought us this far, I think that that is going to be the same message. I think there are going to be things we look at after this game, just like we do after every win and loss, and make corrections in some areas. I think we will continue to do that, but Tennessee Tech is a great team, they are well-coached and it's going to be another dog fight on Saturday, but we are going to be ready for it."

Up Next 

Austin Peay, Belmont, and Tennessee Tech are tied atop the OVC standings at 6-2 in league play and the Governors are set to hit the road for a 5:30 p.m., Saturday game against the Golden Eagles at the Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tennessee. The Govs then return home to host rival Murray State in a 5 p.m., Feb. 3 contest in the Winfield Dunn Center. For news and updates on everything Governors women's basketball, follow along on Twitter and Instagram (@GovsWBB) or check back at LetsGoPeay.com.