Otahks fall to Austin Peay in OVC title game

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Austin Peay was the Ohio Valley Conference's dominant women's basketball team all season.

That didn't change in Saturday's championship game of the OVC Tournament.

Second-seeded Southeast Missouri State University stayed close for a while, but the top-seeded Governors proved too strong during an 85-61 romp at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

The OVC regular-season champion Govs, undefeated in the conference, posted their 22nd straight victory and improved to 27-3 to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Southeast, second in the OVC's regular season, finished 19-11 under first-year coach B.J. Smith to equal the program's most victories on the Division I level. It was the Otahkians' first appearance in the OVC Tournament finals.

"Austin Peay has had a great team all year, and today was a perfect example of that," Smith said. "They really stay focused. It's hard to take them out of their game."

Austin Peay has won the last three OVC Tournament titles. The previous two were decided by two points, but there was no suspense down the wire Saturday.

"This was a different way to finish up. It was fun," Austin Peay coach Susie Gardner said. "I think our guys played great. It was a total team effort."

OVC Player of the Year Brooke Armistead, a senior guard, did the most offensive damage to the Otahkians and led all scorers with 27 points.

Junior forward Gerlonda Hardin, like Armistead an all-conference selection, added 22 points and 12 rebounds. Also reaching double figures for the Govs were senior guard Paige Smith and freshman forward Ashley Haynes with 11 points apiece.

Armistead said the most recent of three meetings with Southeast -- Austin Peay won all three -- helped the Govs prepare Saturday. Austin Peay needed a late rally to beat the Otahkians by two points in Cape Girardeau on Feb. 22.

"We knew SEMO was a great team and they'd be ready," Armistead said. "At SEMO we didn't come out ready to play. Coach Gardner wanted us to come out ready to play today."

Southeast was paced by junior guard Kenja White, who scored 19 points and blocked three shots. Junior forward Carina Souza added 12 points, and senior forward Lori Chase had 11.

"We just made some mistakes we wish we could take back. We can't, and Austin Peay played a great game," Chase said.

Armistead, Hardin, Smith, White and Chase were selected for the six-player all-tournament team, with Tennessee Tech freshman center Emily Christian rounding out the squad. Armistead was the tournament's most valuable player.

Even though the Govs won comfortably, they met resistance from the Otahkians for a major part of the game.

After several early lead changes, Austin Peay went ahead for good when Jessica Grayson made one of two free throws with 11:56 remaining in the first half, putting the Govs on top 12-11. Austin Peay expanded its advantage to 24-14 on Armistead's layup with 6:37 left before halftime.

The Otahkians responded with a 9-0 run, pulling to within 24-23 on White's 3-pointer at the 4:16 mark of the opening period.

Southeast was still within one at 26-25 after Yashika Sidbury's layup with 2:14 left, but Austin Peay scored the final six points of the half to enter the intermission ahead 32-25.

Austin Peay put up the first five points of the second half to build a 37-25 lead. Southeast hung tough, closing to 46-39 on Souza's follow shot with 11:15 remaining.

The Govs again opened up breathing room with a 7-0 run fueled by two technical fouls against Smith with 9:53 left. Smith was ejected after the technicals, which came with Austin Peay ahead by 10 points. Armistead made all four free throws, putting Austin Peay up 53-39.

Southeast got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way as Austin Peay went on to break the contest open.

"The technicals obviously didn't help," Smith said. "It let them go on a run."

Smith, who had been whistled for just one technical all season prior to Saturday, said he didn't go overboard with the officials.

"I didn't feel like I was overly rambunctious, but different officials call those things differently," he said.

Even though Southeast hung with Austin Peay in the first half, Smith said it was obvious the Otahkians were playing in their first OVC Tournament championship game while the Govs had been there before.

"We were nervous, you could tell, in the early part of the game," he said.

White agreed, saying, "I know we were. I missed a lot of shots I was finishing yesterday" in the semifinals against Tennessee Tech.

The Govs' win finished off a dominating tournament that saw them win their three games by an average of 20 points.

"They're a great team and they deserved to win the tournament," Smith said.

mmishow@semissourian.com

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