Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team rang in the New Year on Saturday at F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville after a 53-44 win over Miami OH. Photo: Jennifer Lindahl|The All State

The Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team celebrated both the New Year and the end of their nonconference season with a 53-44 victory over Miami (OH) Saturday at F&M Bank Arena. 

However, there was plenty more to celebrate after Saturday’s game.

Shamarre Hale put up 18 points and had eight rebounds, both team highs. Right behind Hale, Anala Nelson put up 11 points, two of those three-pointers. Sandra Lin’s four assists marked a team high. La’Nya Foster had her first start on Saturday night and scored eight points, had two steals, and ended the night with six rebounds. 

The Governors held the Redhawks to a 30.9 field-goal percentage, which is the lowest they have held an opponent. The last time was January 7th against Stetson where the Governors held them 30.2 percent. 

While the women’s team was celebrating in Clarksville, the APSU men’s basketball team battled it out at the University of Memphis but fell to the Tigers 81-70 on Saturday. 

In the first half, the Govs and Tigers went basket for basket starting with Isaac Haney, Demarcus Sharp and Dezi Jones putting up eight points in just under the first four minutes of the game giving the Govs an 8-7 lead. Tigers responded and led 12-10 at 11:32 in the game. 15 minutes into Saturday’s game, the Govs had the one-point lead, 29-28.

While the battle continued in the second half, the Tigers went into a 16-point game-high lead, 69-53 with just 7:30 left in the game. Dez White and Jones went on to score three three-pointers, with Daniel Loos and Sai Witt pulling four points to give the Govs a six-point deficit with just 90 seconds remaining. The Tigers ended up pulling out four final points closing the night with a 81-70 victory.

Jones led the men’s team in scoring with a game-high 20 points. White was behind Jones with 11 points in Saturday’s game. Saturday’s battle against the Tigers was the first game where Demarcus Sharp failed to put-up double-digit points and only scored six points. 

Men’s basketball hits the road after the New Year taking on Bellarmine in Louisville, KY. on January 4, Eastern Kentucky on January 6 and Lipscomb in Nashville on January 13. Women’s basketball will host Bellarmine at F&M Bank Arena on January 4 at 6 PM. ESPN+ will have live coverage of both games.