Jan. 9, 2004

Box Score

Cape Girardeau, Mo. - Southeast (5-7, 0-1 OVC) couldn't find their rhythm tonight as they fell to Austin Peay (7-5, 1-0 OVC), 64-54. The Otahkians fell behind 23-19 in the first half and couldn't pull ahead in the second, as the squad as struggled so far this season in the second half.

Southeast jumped out to the early 2-0 lead with a Chandra Brown jumper and then extended their lead to three points on three occasions during the first eleven minutes, before losing the lead for good. With 8:51 left in the first half, senior Yashika Sidbury drained one from long range to capture the 16-13 lead, but Austin Peay's Jessica Grayson answered back with a 3-point of her own to tie the score 16 all. The Lady Gov's then took the lead with a short 2-point jumper and never looked back.

Although APSU captured a four-point lead at the half, neither team shot well from the floor or 3-point land. Austin Peay out shot Southeast 29 to 23.5 percent from the floor, while both team shot just 16.7 percent from long range. The Lady Govs saving grace in the half came from the charity stripe as they sunk 4-of-5, for an 80 percent average.

The Otahkians improved their shooting to 33.3 percent from the floor in the second half, but it wasn't enough to match the Lady Govs shooting percent of 55.6 percent.

Southeast's Sami Jo Cotton had another spectacular second half performance. After shooting 0-for-6 from the field in the first half, Cotton came back to score 16 points in the second. She was unstoppable as she shot 5-for-5 from the floor, including 4-of-4 from 3-point territory. Cotton also recorded a perfect 2-for-2 from the line to cap off her perfect second half and seal Copi Rite Player of the Game honors.

Sidbury also had another great performance for the Otahkians as she recorded 11 points and nine boards, just missing the double-double by one rebound. On the boards for the Otahkians it was Brown with ten and dishing out six assists was senior Sarah Costello.

Leading all scorers on the evening was Austin Peay's, Gerlonda Hardin, with 18 points and nine rebounds. With her nine boards, Hardin passed the 800 career rebound mark with 806 total boards. Also scoring in double-digits for the Lady Govs were Kera Bergeron and Carden Cobb, each chipping in 13.

APSU edged out Southeast on the glass 48-42, but the Otahkians were able to create five more steals and two more Lady Gov turnovers on the evening.

Women's hoops will return to action, Saturday Jan. 10 as they take on Tennessee Tech in the Show Me Center. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m. with the men's game following at 7:00 p.m.