Govs prevail over Tigers on historic night

By OVC

February 14, 2003

Austin Peay 71, Tennessee State 56 Anthony Davis scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Thursday night, to lead Austin Peay to a historic 71-56 win against Tennessee State. The visiting Tigers were coached by athletics director Teresa Phillips, making her the first woman to ever coach a Division I men’s basketball team.

The victory pushed APSU’s winning streak to eight, elevating them to 16-6 overall and 9-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Tennessee State fell to 2-21 overall and 0-12 in the OVC.

Phillips, who formerly coach the TSU women, stepped in as coach after interim coach Hosea Lewis was suspended following his team’s altercation with Eastern Kentucky on Monday night.

“No, I don’t see this as history,” Phillips said. “History to me will be when an institution actually hires a woman to coach a Division I team. I am nothing more than an A.D. stepping in for a missing head coach.”

“If there is any doubt that TSU’s athletics department is not in good hands, that was dispelled tonight,” APSU head coach Dave Loos said. “Tennessee State played with great energy tonight. They had a good game plan. They stalled us offensively, but I think our defense solved it.

“We do two things well: play hard on the defensive end and play well together, although I don’t think we played as well together as we have recently. We have a thin margin for error.”

In the two teams' game a little more than a week ago, the Govs never trailed. This time Tennessee State stayed competitive throughout. In fact, they led 22-21 with 6:17 left in the first half. But the Govs, led by Maurice Hampton’s inspired off-the-bench play, ended the half on a 17-0 run for a 38-22 halftime advantage. Hampton, who finished with a season-high 12 points, scored eight points, had three steals and two assists in the span.

Early in the second half, the Govs built as much as a 23-point advantage. But the Tigers never backed off. In fact, TSU scored 12 straight points to make it a 47-36 game with 10:48 left. But Davis scored the game’s next five points and the Tigers never got closer than 12 points the game’s remainder.

The Govs, who shot 50 percent or better in six of the previous seven games, connected on only 39.2 percent (20 of 51) against TSU, including 23.8 percent (5 of 21) in the final half. TSU shot only 33.3 percent (20 of 60) from the floor. Rhet Wierzba joined Davis and Hampton in double figures with 11 points.

Roshaun Bowens led TSU with 21 points.