And we've got our first upset of the auto-bids. That didn't take long!
Who? The Lady Governors of Austin Peay.
Where? Clarksville, in northern Tennessee; to get there, meet the Monkees at the station before the last train leaves.
When? Around 6PM on Saturday, March 6th, 2010, in Nashville, TN.
How? Though Eastern Illinois made a run in the second half, Austin Peay answered and put the Panthers away, 69-60.
RPI: 211
SOS: 177
Upset? Yes. Austin Peay was the third seed in the OVC tournament, and upset second-seeded Morehead State and top-seeded Eastern Illinois to snag the auto-bid.
"Let's Go Peay!" is one of the classic chants in the NCAA, and after today's upset, it's ringing out across the Ohio Valley.
The Lady Govs are led by All-OVC guard/forward Ashley Herring, a junior who averages 14.8 points and 5.3 rebounds a game. OVC second-team forward/center Nicole Jamen of Cameroon pulls down 8.6 rebounds to go with 10.3 points and just over a steal a game. Eleven different players have started at least one game for Austin Peay, with ten getting on the court for at least thirteen minutes per game.
At 14-17 overall, and 11 of those wins coming in conference, it's hard to find a good out-of-conference win- I can only find Lipscomb as a non-conference win on their schedule. Dragging Pittsburgh into overtime counts as a good loss, and they kept it respectable with Middle Tennessee. They played a lot of good teams; they just lost to all of them. The worst out-of-conference loss would be to Northwestern State, even if was an overtime loss.
Hail from Clarksville? Call the Ohio Valley your home? Think this Austin Peay team sounds familiar? Drop a comment and help us get a better idea of what this team is about.