Defending champs hand loss to Otahks

Austin Peay's women gave an early indication Thursday that they are not about to relinquish their Ohio Valley Conference championship without a fight.

The Govs, who went undefeated in OVC play last season, were picked second behind Southeast Missouri State University in this year's coaches' poll.

But the Govs served notice to the rest of the league --and particularly Southeast -- by defeating the host Otahkians 64-54 in the conference opener for both teams. Austin Peay improved to 7-5 and Southeast fell to 5-7.

"We've looked forward to this since we saw the rankings," Austin Peay senior center Gerlonda Hardin said. "We wanted to come out and make a statement."

Austin Peay has won 23 consecutive regular-season OVC games. The Govs defeated the Otahkians three times last year during coach B.J. Smith's first season at Southeast, including a 24-point triumph in the finals of the conference tournament.

"It's disappointing," Smith said. "We just didn't make plays."

Mostly, the Otahkians didn't make baskets as a season-long shooting slump continued to plague them. They entered the game hitting 36.6 percent from the field, including 27.5 percent from 3-point range -- and those statistics went down Thursday.

Southeast shot 28.6 percent and made just 24.1 percent of its 3-pointer (7 of 29). Austin Peay didn't exactly sizzle with its shooting, but the Govs were a lot better than the Otahkians, hitting 41.4 percent, including 33.3 percent on 3-pointers (4 of 12).

"We got 12 more shots than they did. We just have to make shots," Smith said. "We just have to score. You can't beat anybody scoring 54 points."

Hardin, one of the OVC's premier inside players, led the Govs with 18 points. Sophomore guard Kera Bergeron scored 13 points, as did sophomore forward Carden Cobb, who had a career high off the bench. Sophomore forward Ashley Haynes had 13 rebounds.

Junior guard Sami Jo Cotton hit four of six 3-pointers and paced the Otahkians with 16 points as she was Southeast's Copi-Rite player of the game. Senior forward Yashika Sidbury added 11 points and nine rebounds. Junior center Chandra Brown had 10 rebounds and senior guard Sarah Costello recorded six assists.

"We had so many opportunities, we just didn't finish shots and we missed a lot of layups. Some days they go in and some days they don't," Cotton said. "But I think it's all there. I think we'll be all right."

After several early lead changes in a sluggish first half by both teams, Austin Peay finally went ahead 18-16 on Cobb's jumper with 7:10 remaining. The Govs never lost the advantage.

The Govs led 23-19 at halftime and pushed the margin to 12 points in the second half. The Otahkians made several small runs but could never get closer than five points.

"I think we played well together. It was one of our best games this year," Hardin said. "We wanted to make a statement not only to the OVC but to ourselves, to show we could play this way, because we hadn't been playing all that well."

Southeast will try to bounce back Saturday when the Otahkians conclude their OVC-opening homestand against Tennessee Tech.