Cleveland, OH – On Wednesday, the Austin Peay State University (APSU) women’s basketball team fell in its first game of the Viking Invitational to Cleveland State, 62-57, at Woodling Gymnasium. 

Austin Peay (1-4) began the game with a three-pointer by Cur’Tiera Haywood. The rest of the quarter was back-and-forth and saw five of the games eight ties. The Vikings went on an 8-5 run to give themselves a 4-point lead, 11-7.

The Governors responded with a 10-2 run, taking back the lead by four, 17-13. A layup and jumper by Cleveland State’s Colbi Maples tied the game 17-17. A free-throw by Maples and by La’nya Foster ended the quarter with a tie, 18-18. 

After more back-and-forth action to begin the second quarter, a free throw by Cleveland State’s Brooklyn Fort-Davis tied the game 25-25. A jumper by Gabby Zapata Smalls and a layup by Abby Cater gave Austin Peay State University a three-shot lead with 1:24 remaining in the half.

A jumper by Foster gave the Govs a five-point lead going into halftime. APSU gave the ball away nine times in the second quarter alone, which translated into 10 Cleveland State points.

Austin Peay took its largest lead of the game on a pair of Shamarre Hale free throws 2:55 into the penultimate quarter. Cleveland State answered Hale’s makes from the charity stripe with a game-best 13-0 scoring run, taking advantage of three-straight misses by the Govs and four turnovers in that six-and-half-minute run.

CSU went on to maintain the eight-point advantage, as it outscored APSU 19-6 in the frame after making eight of its 15 shots while limiting the Govs to 2-for-8 from the field. Hale also scored for the Govs’ six third-quarter points. She made her only attempt from the field in the frame and went two-for-two from the charity stripe. 

Cleveland State opened the fourth quarter on a 4-2 run to take a double-digit lead with 7:25 remaining in regulation; however, the Govs cut into the deficit following three-straight points by Smalls- all coming from the charity stripe- over the next two minutes.

The seven-point deficit was as close as the APSU Govs would get until the final 20 seconds when Abby Cater made a fast break layup to make it 60-55 in advantage of the Vikings. The two teams went on to trade the final four points of the evening, as CSU claimed the 62-57 win. 

Shamarre Hale scored a team-high 17 points in the loss and had six rebounds. Cur’Tiera Haywood scored 13 points and made three three-pointers. 

The Difference 

The third quarter. The Governors had a 25.0 field-goal percentage compared to Cleveland State’s 53.3 field-goal percentage. 

Inside the Box Score 

Hale scored 17 points in the loss. This was her fourth time as a scoring leader this season and the 15th time in her career.  

Hale, Smalls, and Anala Nelson had six rebounds each.

Sandra Lin had a season-high seven assists and two steals. 
 
Austin Peay State University had 30 bench points compared to Cleveland State’s 14. 
 
The two teams had the same field goal percentage of 44.0 (22-50).

Next Up For APSU Women’s Basketball

Austin Peay takes on Kansas City on Friday, November 24th at 3:0pm CT, and Chicago State on November 25th at 11:30am for the final games of the Viking Invitational.