Twenty-three points were what defined the first quarter of APSU’s 74-47 win over the visiting Tennessee State Tigers on Thursday, Jan. 24. Coming as a bonus to the lopsided victory, the Govs progress to 4-3 and a three-way tie for fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference and 8-1 at the Dunn Center.
Head Coach Dave Midlick squad’s confident and consistent opening 10 minutes set the tone for the match as they outscored the Tigers by 13 in the frame. In the later stages of the game, the Govs tallied 22 points in both the third and fourth quarter.
“We have started out slow in some of our games, but it was good to see Keisha hot,” Midlick said. “It was good to see some shots falling.”
Voice of Head Coach Dave Midlick
In the first quarter alone, the Govs shot 9-15 from the field and 75 percent at the line. Senior guard Keisha Gregory lit the floor up with 5-for-5 from the court and 2-for-2 behind the arch. The Govs standout also tallied one rebound, assist and turnover in the first frame.
“We just needed to be aggressive on offense, and that is what we pushed to do,” Gregory said. “My teammates helped get me open, so it worked.”
Voice of Keisha Gregory
The Govs managed to outscore TSU 38-22 in the paint while they won the rebound battle 40-37.
However, APSU dominated the transition game. Midlick’s squad tallied 22 TSU turnovers and outscored the Tigers 30-8 in points off turnovers. Additionally, APSU notched 14 points off the fastbreak, beating their guests 14-2 in that column.
“We were being aggressive on defense and we knew we could get our hands on the ball. We kept getting good steals,” Gregory added.
Voice of Keisha Gregory
Leading the charge for the Govs, Brandi Ferby tallied a game-high six steals as the Govs pressed TSU into a hard move in transition.
“Well, Coach [Midlick] has been on us about cause usually teams beat us on transition points, so we have been working on that,” Ferby said.”I think we have been getting a lot better on it.”
Voice of Brandi Ferby
The second quarter played the opposite for a Govs team who gave the Tigers some space to stick around in.
In the second frame, the Govs 60 percent shooting plummetted to 18.8 percent with Brandi Ferby’s loan 3-pointer helping the squad to finish at 1-for-9 from behind the arch.
“The second quarter was not good. Ari[elle Gonzalez-Varner] got two fouls which was a factor. We had to kind of change positions on the floor,” Coach Midlick said. “We did not move the ball as we should have and we were not aggressive.”
Voice of Head Coach Dave Midlick
APSU contained a firm control of the game at the break due to TSU’s struggles offensively on their own. The Tigers (1-18, 1-6 OVC) matched the Govs at 3-for-16 from the field in the second quarter.
Throughout the night, the ball never seemed to roll for the guests. The Tigers tallied 32.8 percent shooting in the contest, 16 percent less than the Govs. TSU strongest quarter saw them shoot 8-for-16 in the third.
“We had to move [our] feet [in the third quarter], and contest shots, Midlick said. “There are some players that they look to more than others, so we try to cheat towards them and make it more difficult for those players. I thought overall against a pretty good team we played good defense throughout.”
Voice of Head Coach Dave Midlick
Tigers sophomore Taylor Roberts, who averages 14.6 points per game, did not play in the contest.
APSU will return to their home court as they host Belmont (13-5, 6-1 OVC) tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, Jan. 26. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
