CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Shamarre Hale led Austin Peay State University women's basketball team with 18 points, but the Governors dropped a 57-52 game against Chattanooga, Saturday, on Gary Mathews Court at F&M Bank Arena. 

The Govs and Mocs got off to a slow start with neither team scoring until Jada Guinn's field goal at the 7:03 mark got Chattanooga on the board first. Chattanooga would extend its lead to 12-5 at the 2:19 mark of the first quarter before the Govs scored three of the final four points and trailed 13-8 at the quarter break. 

Austin Peay outscored Chattanooga in the second and third quarters as they closed the deficit to two points. After the second quarter began with Shamarre Hale layup the Mocs responded with three consecutive three-pointers to build their largest lead, 22-10 with 5:29 left in the first half and forcing an Austin Peay timeout. The Governors came out of the time out and ended a 4:06 scoring drought with two Cur'Tiera Haywood free throws. Those free throws kicked off an Austin Peay 6-0 scoring run that Chattanooga ended with a basket at the 3:19 mark. Austin Peay made three points by Shamarre Hale free throws and a layup by Abby Cater and entered halftime trailing by three.

The Governors continued to battle back after halftime with a layup by Haywood just 17 seconds into the third quarter cutting the Govs deficit to one. The Mocs went on a 12-5 scoring run going into a media timeout. The Governors came out of that timeout and went on a 6-2 run to end the quarter and trail by two at 38-36. 

The fourth quarter began with a layup by the Mocs. Two free throws by Hale got the Governors back within two. Chattanooga made a layup off of an Austin Peay turnover, but Hale responded with a layup and Abby Cater made a layup off of a Chattanooga turnover to tie the game for the first time. Chattanooga went on a 9-4 run before calling a timeout. Hale's made free throws got the score to 52-48 before Chattanooga called another timeout. 

After the timeout, La'Nya Foster made a layup from a steal, cutting the deficit back to two and forcing another Chattanooga timeout. The Mocs went on a 5-2 scoring run to end the game. Two personal fouls by Austin Peay sent Chattanooga to the charity stripe, ending the game 57-52.

The Difference

Turnovers. Chattanooga scored 20 points from turnovers compared to Austin Peay's 10.

Inside the Box Score

• Shamarre Hale scored in the double digits for the second straight game with 18 and had her second straight game with six rebounds.
• Austin Peay had 28 bench points compared to Chattanooga's 3.
• Anala Nelson grabbed a career-high nine rebounds and extended her starting streak to 31 games. 
• Nelson's nine rebounds were the most by a Gov since Hale's 13 rebounds against Eastern Kentucky in the Atlantic Sun Conference Quarterfinals, March 5, 2023
• Hale had a career-high of 10 made free-throws which are the most by a Gov since alumna Yamia Johnson made 11 against Belmont, Jan. 13, 2021.

Coach's Corner

With head women's basketball coach Brittany Young

On if she saw improvements in tonight's game: "Yeah, I have a wrist band on that says trust the process. The team and I talked about that this summer when we got together, that we were going to trust the process. We have a lot of new faces and people do not realize that we have been a little spoiled these last few years because it looked so easy. Any championship team will have to go through some things to become who you are supposed to be. It is a trying time right now, I wish very badly that we had our first win at F&M, that would feel so good right now. Now we have to wait an entire month to get back here, but these young ladies played like Austin Peay women's basketball tonight. Are there still some areas that need improvement? Without a doubt. Sometimes you take some lessons with loses. You would rather take them with wins, but we are going to take them and keep getting petter everyday"

On players she is trying to challenge to supplement Shammare Hale's scoring: "Everyone. It is not just one person, it is everyone, it is collective. We are so thankful now that we have the main arena floor down for good so we have got to be able to get in there and make it feel like our home court. We have to find extra moments to steal to shoot and relax and knock down shots and listen to music. I challenge these young ladies every day and I have been challenging them since Monday about our mentality and how we have to be tougher and stronger. When I see it and it is not that, I address it head on and they know that. But that confrontation forces them to look at themselves and make a change, and I think that is why we have seen such a drastic turnaround from Monday to today. And they know as a staff we are going to continue to push them and we love them and we believe in them and I believe that at the right time, they will be playing their best basketball. 

On what she tried to change from the last game: "As a coach you go back and the first person you look at is yourself, like we talked about these young ladies are a reflection of me and our staff so there are some things that I had to go back to the drawing board about. I am going to be honest, I spent a lot of time with our young ladies in the gym in two or three man groups which as a head coach is taxing. One day I was sweating, one of our assistants was laughing at me because my sweatshirt was soaked. Sometimes that sacrifice is needed because you want them to find that confidence and sometimes they need to hear from you and ask questions. So that is what I have done, have really tried to sacrifice my time, wake up a bit earlier to get things done in the morning and take time with them to help them find confidence. We are going to keep working and I hope today showed them that if they continue to trust the process and take it one day at a time, they will continue to do better."

Up Next

Austin Peay travels to Georgetown, Kentucky, where it will face Kentucky in a 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14 game. The Govs road trip continues with a 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18 game against Butler in Indianapolis.