UPCOMING SCHEDULE
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL INVITATIONAL
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17 - First Round
College of Charleston at Morehead State - 5:00 p.m.
WOMEN'S NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT
THURSDAY, MARCH 18 - First Round
Eastern Illinois at Marquette - 7:00 p.m.
NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
MEMPHIS REGION (at Knoxville, Tenn.)
SATURDAY, MARCH 20 - First Round
Austin Peay at Tennessee - 11:16 a.m. (ESPN2)
ALL TIMES CENTRAL
NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE
Three OVC Teams in the Postseason: The Ohio Valley Conference has three teams in the postseason for the first time since the 1999 season when Middle Tennessee and UT Martin were in the WNIT and Tennessee Tech played in the NCAA Tournament. This year Austin Peay and Eastern Illinois earned the league's automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament and WNIT, respectively. Morehead State will host a first round game in the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitational.
Austin Peay Wins Seventh Tournament Title: Austin Peay earned the third seed in the 2010 OVC Women's Basketball Tournament and upset No. 1 Eastern Illinois, 69-60, in the championship game to earn its second straight tourney crown and seventh overall. It marked the second consecutive year the Lady Govs defeated the Panthers in the final to win the title. In 2009, Austin Peay became the first fifth seed to ever win the Conference tournament.
Eastern Illinois Wins First Regular-Season Crown: Eastern Illinois went 16-2 in league play, including going undefeated at home, to win its first OVC regular-season title. The Panthers earned the top seed in the tournament and fell to Austin Peay in the tourney final. EIU put together its second straight 20-win season this year, which included a 13-game win streak.
Defensive Player and Freshman of the Year: Eastern Illinois' Ta'Kenya Nixon was named both the OVC Defensive Player and Freshman of the Year as voted on by the leagues' head coaches and sports information directors. She is the first player to earn both awards in the same season. In addition, Nixon was named to the All-OVC First Team and All-Newcomer team.
Player of the Year: Morehead State's Chynna Bozeman was named the OVC Player of the Year after being picked as the Preseason Player of the Year. She broke the league and school career three-pointers made record while also setting the school and conference single-season mark for treys made. Bozeman was also named to the All-OVC first team.
Tourney MVP: Austin Peay's Ashley Herring was named the 2010 OVC Tournament MVP after averaging 19.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists over the three games. She put up 22 points in the first-round win over Tennessee Tech.
Morehead State's Bozeman sets 3-point Record: Morehead State's Chynna Bozeman set a new school and OVC career three-point record of 248. She currently has 255 career treys.
Free-Throw Record: Morehead State's Chynna Bozeman went 17-for-17 from the free throw line against Tennessee State on Jan. 28 to set the school and league's single-game record.
Seniorless: Tennessee Tech and UT Martin are two of 15 squads in the nation without a senior on the roster. Joining the Golden Eagles and the Skyhawks are Appalachian State, Arizona, Army, Central Arkansas, Colorado State, George Washington, Harvard, South Carolina, Southern Utah, Tennessee, West Virginia, Winston-Salem and Wyoming.
EIU's Nixon Joins Elite Company: Eastern Illinois freshman Ta'Kenya Nixon earned three Player of the Week honors to become just the first player in OVC history to earn the accolade three times as a freshman.
Young Teams: The Ohio Valley Conference will return less than half of its starters from a year ago as just 26 starters are coming back from last season. However, Jacksonville State will have its entire starting lineup in tact from the 2008-09 season. Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State each have four starters returning from last season while Austin Peay, Southeast Missouri, SIU Edwardsville and UT Martin each have two. Eastern Illinois, Murray State and Tennessee State will have the most holes to fill as they have just one starter coming back.
Predicted Order of Finish: In a preseason poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors, Morehead State earned 147 points, including nine first-place votes while, Austin Peay claimed six first-place votes and 146 points for second place. Tennessee State picked up 134 points and four first-place votes for a predicted third place finish as Eastern Illinois earned the final first-place nod and 111 points to finish fourth. Rounding out the poll are Jacksonville State (84 points), Murray State (79 points), Southeast Missouri (67 points), Tennessee Tech (58 points), Eastern Kentucky (54 points) and UT Martin (18 points).
TEAM SNAPSHOTS
AUSTIN PEAY LADY GOVS (15-17, 11-7): Austin Peay defeated Tennessee Tech (79-71), Morehead State (94-90) and Eastern Illinois (69-60) to win its second straight and seventh overall OVC Tournament title. It was the second consecutive year that the Lady Govs had upset the Panthers to win the tourney crown. Junior Ashley Herring was named the tournament MVP after averaging 19.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists over the three games. Junior Nicole Jamen recorded a double-double in each round of the tournament to finish with 15.0 points and 13.7 rebounds per game. She netted 19 points in the final versus Eastern Illinois. This marks Austin Peay's seventh NCAA Tournament appearance. It is the second time the Lady Govs have faced Tennessee in the first round the last coming in 2001. Tip off is set for 11:16 a.m. CT and can be seen on ESPN2.
EASTERN ILLINOIS PANTHERS (23-10, 16-2): Eastern Illinois won its first OVC regular-season title after going 16-2 in conference play. The Panthers recorded their second straight 20-win season this year while also finishing undefeated at home in OVC action. EIU defeated Tennessee State (73-56) in the first round of the conference tourney and beat UT Martin (65-51) in the semifinals before falling to Austin Peay (69-60) in the championship. Freshman Ta'Kenya Nixon earned a plethora of postseason honors which included OVC Freshman of the Year, OVC Defensive Player of the Year, All-Conference first-team pick, OVC All-Newcomer selection. In addition, Nixon was also named to the OVC All-Tournament team after recording 17.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. The Panthers are making their first postseason appearance and will travel to Marquette in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
MOREHEAD STATE EAGLES (22-10, 14-4): Morehead State set a new school record with its 22 wins this year while also setting a new program mark with 14 OVC victories. The Eagles defeated Murray State, 95-90, in the first round of the conference tournament before being knocked out by Austin Peay (78-71) in the semifinals. Morehead State currently leads the nation with 10.3 three-pointers made per game. Junior Chynna Bozeman was named OVC Player of the Year after being selected as the Preseason Player of the Year. She also earned spots on the All-OVC first team as well as the all-tournament team. Bozeman averaged 33.0 points during the conference tournament including scoring 39 in the first round which was just one point shy of the OVC Tournament record. Morehead State is making its first postseason appearance and will host College of Charleston in the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitational on Wednesday.