Clarksville --- In a fiercely contested battle, The
Tennessee State University women’s basketball team used a late second have
spurt to pick up a crucial OVC road win, 69-61, over Austin Peay on Saturday at
the Dunn Center.
With the win, Tennessee
State (14-11, 10-4 OVC)
claimed sole possession of third place in the OVC standings.
Tiffany Jackson led TSU with 24 points while Kendra Appling
tallied 21. Jasmine Smith recorded her sixth double-double of the season with
12 points and 15 rebounds.
Austin Peay (13-12, 9-5 OVC) was led by April Thomas’ 21
points and 14 boards. Jasmine Rayner added 12.
After a scoreless opening two minutes of play, Austin Peay
finally got on the board on a bucket from April Thomas. Tennessee State
answered right back with a jumper from Jasmine Smith.
After trading buckets over the next couple of possessions,
TSU used an 11-2 run to jump ahead 15-7 before the second media timeout.
The Lady Govs responded with a 10-2 run to knot the score at
17-apiece with 6:59 left in the half. APSU then outscored TSU 8-2 over the next
six minutes to capture a 25-19 lead at the 1:35 mark.
TSU, however, scored the final six points of the half to go
into the break tied 25-25.
As to be expected, the second half was a battle. Neither
team could capture more than a two point lead throughout the first fourteen
minutes of the period.
With the contest knotted 46-46, a lay-up by Kendra Appling
followed by an old fashioned 3-point play by Tiffany Jackson gave TSU a 51-46
lead.
The Lady Govs battled back to within one, 53-52, about four
minutes later but a triple from Charisse Hicks sparked a 7-0 run that built the
Lady Tiger lead back up to 64-56 with 1:49 left to play.
Austin Peay could not overcome the deficit down the stretch
as TSU went on to win 69-61.
TSU outscored APSU 44-36 in the second half and out-rebounded
the Lady Govs 41-35.
The Lady Tigers will continue their three-game road swing on
Thursday at Tennessee Tech. Game time is slated for 5 p.m. at Eblen Center.
