Brianah Ferby’s career high leads Austin Peay Govs to first conference victory

By APSU Sports Information | December 30, 2017 |

APSU Sports Information

Clarksville, TN – With a second-quarter surge, Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team topped Eastern Illinois 69-59 to earn their first Ohio Valley Conference win, Saturday.

Austin Peay (8-5) continued to struggle from the floor in the opening moments of their second league matchup shooting 33.0 percent in the first five minutes of the period.

Austin Peay Women’s Basketball gets 69-59 win over Eastern Illinois at the Dunn Center Saturday afternoon. (APSU Sports Information)

Then Keisha Gregory, who missed the conference opener due to an injury, nailed her first three-point shot. Gregory, along with redshirt-junior Falon Baker, kept the Govs in the hunt after Eastern Illinois opened 4-4 from the floor.

Baker scored six points, including a three-point shot as time expired in the first quarter giving the Govs a four-point edge going into the second quarter.

Gregory led the defensive charge in the second period pulling down five rebounds, with two steals and a block. Brianah Ferby came alive offensively scoring seven points, as Michaela Campbell gave the Govs a lift off the bench with five points and two assists in the second quarter.

The Govs 10 points in the paint and seven points off of turnovers gave them a 38-19 cushion heading into halftime.

The Panthers were searching for a way to get back in the game cutting into the Govs lead with a 13-5 run to open the third quarter. Ferby added to her total with six points in the third quarter in her half-dozen minutes on the court.

Nevertheless, the Panthers continued to close the gap on the Governors who had a 10-point lead into the final period.

The Governors traded baskets with the Panthers through much of the fourth quarter with the Govs hovering around a 10-point lead. The Govs struggled from the floor in the final two periods shooting 29.6 percent, but were able to outlast Eastern Illinois for their first conference victory.

Ferby led the Govs with a career-high 19 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Baker and Brianne Alexander also scored in double digits with Baker racking up 12 points and nine rebounds while Alexander scored 11 points and eight rebounds.

Game Notes

Austin Peay earns their first conference win of the 2017-18 season.

Govs led by as many as 20-points in the game.

Three Governors finished in double figures: Brianah Ferby (19), Baker (12) and Alexander (11).

Bri Williams led the Govs with three assists.

The Govs recorded double digit steals for the second straight games with 14 against SIUE and 13 against Eastern Illinois.

The Govs had 22 points off of 19 turnovers and 18 second-chance points off of 16 offensive rebounds.  

Catching up with Coach David Midlick

Keisha’s Return
“She did fantastic, playing 33 minutes with not being out on the floor very much before yesterday. She’s the glue for us. She can roam from the guard to the forward position and she had more offensive rebounds than anyone on our team tonight. She goes to the glass hard and she is a team leader in her actions.”

Defensive Mentality
“We were trying to pick up full court and trying to speed them up, I thought we did a pretty good job of that especially in the second period. It created some offense for us, and that was by far our best period.”

Next Up for APSU Women’s Basketball

Austin Peay will return to the court 7:00pm, Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018 against UT Martin.

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