The Lady Govs did not start the season off the way they wanted, falling in their opener on the road at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, 72-54, in a game in which they fell behind early and never could recover.
The Lady Govs would see a deficit by as large as 14 in the first half at 25-11. The team would have a hard time holding on to the ball, committing 18 turnovers and being outrebounded 13-2 on the offensive boards in the first half. UAB would take advantage of the mistakes, taking 16 more shots than APSU in the first half. Despite the problems, APSU would only trail by 10 at the half.
The second half was more of the same. Although APSU cut down on their turnovers and did better on the boards, they were never able to make it a close game, not getting closer than 11 points for the rest of the game.
APSU was outrebounded 42-24 for the game, with UAB having an even 21 offensive and defensive rebounds while APSU had only eight offensive boards. UAB would punish APSU for mistakes, winning the battle of points off turnovers, 32-13, as well as second-chance points, 20-8.
The Govs did get a strong performance from senior starters Leslie Martinez and Megan Bussabarger. Martinez and Bussabarger accounted for 13 and 16 points respectively, with both players shooting .500 from the field. Freshman guard Tiasha Gray had a big game, coming off the bench for nine points and playing 25 minutes.
Coach Carrie Daniels will look to get her young team away from the turnover bug and back on track as they take on Louisville at home on Thursday, Nov. 15, and Binghamton on Sunday, Nov. 18., then traveling to San Antonio over Thanksgiving.
