CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (ESPN Clarksville) Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team got back to winning ways by defeating Christian Brothers, 100-62, Friday, at the Winfield Dunn Center.
The Governors (1-1) were facing off against the Buccaneers for the third straight year in their home opener and have now won all three. At the start of the game, the Govs went cold, but quickly found their footing off the back of a 14-0 run. Gabby Gregory provided the spark off the bench in the quarter, hitting two threes as the Govs shot 50 percent for the quarter despite missing their first five shots.
After the initial cold streak, the Govs remained on fire for the rest of the game. Nine of ten Govs scored in the first half, paced by Arielle Gonzalez-Varner who had 11 points and six boards on five-of-six shooting from the field. Coach David Midlick harped on not committing turnovers after the Cincinnati game and the Govs did a much better job with the ball, winning the turnover battle at halftime (12-8).
Coming out of halftime, the Govs continued to be the aggressor, with the third quarter assault led by the twin duo of Brandi and Brianah Ferby. Brandi hit one of her four threes on the opening Govs possession in the third quarter before letting her sister Brianah get in on the fun, as she hit a trey on the ensuing Govs possession. Gregory then continued to impress on both ends of the floor as she stole a pass on the perimeter and finished at the other end. Gonzalez-Varner feasted down low, as she collected a double-double by the end of the third quarter, the first since Brianne Alexander had one against Morehead State in January of last season.
The Govs scored at least 24 points in every quarter tonight, but perhaps their most impressive output on the night was holding Christian Brothers to just nine points in the fourth quarter. The Govs held the Bucs to just an 11.8 shooting percentage in the quarter and just a 32.3 percent percentage throughout the contest. Myah Leflore added to the Govs big win with seven fourth quarter points, including a deep three that pushed the Govs lead to 40. The Govs had five players score in double figures and scored 100 points as a team for the first time in 430 games, with the previous occurrence on Jan. 7, 2002 against Eastern Illinois.
The Govs return to action with two contests next week. APSU travels down Interstate 24 to take on Vanderbilt, 7 p.m., Monday in a big SEC Network contest, before returning home to the friendly confines of the Dunn Center to take on Trevecca, 7 p.m., Wednesday.