CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University women's basketball team dropped a 75-59 decision to Trevecca in its 2023-24 season opener, Monday, on Gary Mathews Court at F&M Bank Arena. 

Trevecca opened the game on a 9-0 run and led the first quarter wire-to-wire. Abby Cater scored the Govs' first point of the afternoon on a free throw at five-minute mark of the opening quarter. A three-pointer by La'Nya Foster three minutes later tied the game at 11 and a layup by Sandra Lin with under 30 seconds remaining in the quarter tied the game at 13.

The Governors took their first lead of the game with Kaili Chamberlin's three-pointer a minute into the second quarter. APSU's three-minute scoring drought ended with a perfect, 2-for-2 trip to the free throw line by Shamarre Hale with 6:02 remaining in the first half. With a layup from Hale, APSU trailed by four with 2:57 left; however, Trevecca went on a 10-0 run to end the half and gain 14-point lead over the Governors.

A three-pointer from Chamberlin 36 seconds into the second half ended the Govs' scoring drought after 10 straight Trevecca. points The Governors cut their deficit to as few as nine points midway through the frame, but were unable to continue the third quarter comeback and trailed by 15 entering the fourth quarter.

The Govs shot 50 percent in the third and fourth quarter but were held to just one three on 10 attempts in the final 20 minutes. The Trojans went on a 7-0 run and defeated Austin Peay in its first game at F&M Bank Arena. 

Hale led the team in scoring and rebounds with 15 and six, respectively. Sandra Lin APSU led with four assists. 

The Difference

Free throws. Austin Peay made five of its 10 attempted free throws while Trevecca made 26 on 32 attempts. Austin Peay also had 25 fouls compared to Trevecca's 12. 

Inside the Box Score

• The Govs attendance of 1,419 is the most since Feb. 13, 2020, when the Govs drew a crowd of 1,602 in a win against Murray State. 
• Kaili Chamberlin, Sandra Lin, Cur'Tiera Haywood La'Nya Foster, Abby Cater, and Alyssa Hargrove all made their APSU debuts against the Trojans. 
• Kaili Chamberlin, Sandra Lin, and Cur'Tiera Haywood made their first starts as Governors.
• Brittany Young dropped her first home opener at the helm of the women's basketball program, falling to 2-1. 
• All nine Governors that appeared in the game contributed to the team's total.
• With her 15-point performance, Shamarre Hale now has scored in double figures in four-straight games and in nine of her last 10 appearances, a streak that began Feb. 4 at Eastern Kentucky. 
• 36 of APSU's 59 points came off the bench.
• La'Nya Foster scored seven points in her collegiate debut.

Coach's Corner

With head women's basketball coach Brittany Young

On the message to the team... "That this loss is on their head coach, it is not on them. I have a responsibility and a duty and I was brought here to put a championship-level product on the floor and tonight we did not look like that so I cannot blame our players I blame myself because they are a product and a reflection of me and the way they look today is because something needs to change about what we are doing and we got to get back to who Austin Peay women's basketball is."

On what she is looking to change... "You look at a few things and I think you look at fouling. They shot 32 free throws to our 10 and that is the difference in a game, 22 more free throw attempts. You look at rebounding. We were out-rebounded by this team as well. I mean you start with that, championship teams play defense and they rebound… if we defend at a high level and we rebound and we score 60 points a night, we can still win games. The history of us is we don't give up 75 points in a game, we didn't do that too much in the last two years so we have to get back to the drawing board and we have to get back to basics again and it's on me as a head coach."

On whether the newness of the team played a factor... "It could be, but we do not make excuses. We are just going to get back to the drawing board and get better. We could say a lot of things but we are not going to make excuses, we are going to figure it out, and we are going to get better."

Up Next

Austin Peay hosts Chattanooga at home for a 6 p.m., Nov. 10 matchup. Following that, the Governors play six straight road games before returning home to play Murray State, Dec. 9.