Durham, NC – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) women’s basketball team was unable to overcome early offensive struggles and fell to Duke, 74-31, Thursday, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke (9-1) shutout Austin Peay (3-5) in the first quarter, holding the Govs without a field goal on nine attempts and scoring 12 points off 12 APSU turnovers.
A three-pointer by graduate student Yamia Johnson ended a 19-0 Duke run with 8:40 remaining in the opening half and sparked an 8-6 APSU run over the next four minutes.
Graduate student Mariah Adams scored her first basket of the night a minute later, before Johnson answered a Duke score with her second field goal of the quarter. Sophomore Kaiden Glenn knocked down her fourth three-pointer of the season, and first of the day, midway through the second to trim the Govs’ deficit to 29-11.
Glenn’s score was APSU’s final of the frame, as Duke ended the half on a 7-0 run to take a 36-11 advantage into the locker room.
Austin Peay State University shot 50 percent from the field in the second quarter, while holding the Blue Devils to 38.9 percent.
The Govs had their best offensive quarter in the game’s penultimate frame with 13 points and six made field goals.
Glenn opened APSU’s third-quarter scoring with her second-straight three-pointer and Adams answered a 6-0 Duke scoring run with a layup before the third quarter’s media break.
After Anala Nelson entered the scoring column following a coast-to-coast finishing midway through the third quarter, Jada Roberson scored back-to-back baskets for APSU with 1:12 remaining in the quarter.
Roberson scored her third and final field goal 45 seconds into the fourth quarter, while Adams and senior Mahogany Vaught concluded APSU’s makes from the field.
The Difference
The first quarter. Austin Peay was held scoreless and 0-9 from the field in a first quarter that saw the Blue Devils score 18 points. The Govs shot 40 percent from the field across the final three quarters.
Inside the Box Score
Austin Peay State University fell to 0-2 all-time against the Blue Devils and 0-10 against the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Mariah Adams, Kaiden Glenn, and Jada Roberson led APSU with six points.
Yamia Johnson led the Govs for the second-straight game with six rebounds.
APSU forced 17 Blue Devils’ turnovers and has forced opponents to 15-or-more turnovers in all eight games this season.
The Govs held the Blue Devils to one three-pointer, tied for its best defensive performance this season.
Coach’s Corner
With head women’s basketball coach Brittany Young
Opening thoughts… “Anytime you are able to play opponents at the Power Five level it is a great experience for a lot of different reasons – the fans, the crowd, the historic gym like Cameron Indoor… We walked through the gym yesterday after practice and you can feel the strong, nostalgic feeling of being here. For us, we continue to grow as a program no matter who the opponent is or what gym it is. We want to continue to compete at a certain level. Early on, we got a little rattled with 20 turnovers which led to us not being able to get out to a strong start like we wanted to, but we competed in the second half and will look to build on that moving forward.”
Biggest Takeaways… “We need to continue competing for 40 minutes. It does not matter who we play… wherever we go and whatever we do, we have to get to playing our brand of basketball and continue to find our identity. We have had a lot of pieces in and out with players just joining back so we have to find some chemistry and that is something that continues to happen over time.”
On Coaching against Kara Lawson… “I have a lot of respect for Coach Lawson. I watched her a lot in her days playing at Tennessee and I have a lot of respect for all she has done for the game and was an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics and has achieved so many great things in her career. I have so much respect for her and me just having an opportunity to be a graduate assistant under people like Dawn Staley and Nikki McCray, I have great respect for all of the women in this game. But again, I aspire for our program to thrive from a certain level.
Next Up For APSU Women’s Basketball
The Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team travels to the Bluegrass State for a December 13th 5:00pm game against rival Murray State. Tuesday’s game is the fourth nonconference meeting between the two long-time OVC opponents. APSU leads the all-time series against the Racers, 49-46.
