CLARKSVILLE – Freshman guard Ella Sawyer, of the Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team, has been named the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the week for the first time in the final week of the 2019-20 season.
Sawyer, a native of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, led the Governors by averaging 23.5 points per game over the final week of the season. Sawyer shot 61. 5 percent from the floor and 57.1 percent from downtown while knocking down eight three-pointers in the Govs last two regular-season games.
Thursday against Morehead State, Sawyer scored a then career-high 21 points and connected on a pair of triples to lead the Governors to a win in the home finale. On Saturday at Murray State, Sawyer bested Thursday’s effort by pouring in a career-high 26 points on the road in Murray, Kentucky. Sawyer drained a career-high six three-pointers against the Racers to lead the Govs to a 29-point win – the largest road win ever in the Austin Peay-Murray State women’s basketball series.
Sawyer has been a stalwart in the Austin Peay lineup during her freshman campaign, as she is the only Gov to get the starting nod in all 29 regular-season games. During her first season in Clarksville, Sawyer has led all OVC freshman in assists, averaging 2.6 per game, and three-point percentage, shooting 37.4 percent from deep. Averaging 9.2 points per game, Sawyer ranks 28th in the OVC but ranks third among all freshmen in the conference.
Sawyer is the second Governor to win OVC Freshman of the week this season, joining Shay-Lee Kirby, who won the award for the weeks of November 12 and December 30.
Sawyer and the rest of the Austin Peay women’s basketball team will be back in action when they kick off the OVC Women’s Basketball Championship at 3 p.m., Wednesday, in Evansville, Indiana, against Belmont. It will be the Governors’ sixth-straight trip to the tournament but will mark the first-ever postseason meeting between the Govs and Bruins.