Austin Peay hosts Bellarmine following Smith’s 22-point game

Bellarmine Knights (2-26, 0-15 ASUN) at Austin Peay Governors (14-11, 6-9 ASUN)

Clarksville, Tennessee; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Bellarmine takes on Austin Peay after Ava Smith scored 22 points in Bellarmine’s 87-54 loss to the North Alabama Lions.

The Governors have gone 4-8 in home games. Austin Peay ranks seventh in the ASUN in rebounding with 32.7 rebounds. Lameria Thomas leads the Governors with 6.8 boards.

The Knights are 0-15 against ASUN opponents. Bellarmine averages 19.2 turnovers per game and is 1-0 when turning the ball over less than opponents.

Austin Peay is shooting 43.8% from the field this season, 0.4 percentage points lower than the 44.2% Bellarmine allows to opponents. Bellarmine’s 31.9% shooting percentage from the field this season is 8.3 percentage points lower than Austin Peay has allowed to its opponents (40.2%).

The teams square off for the second time in conference play this season. Austin Peay won the last meeting 67-39 on Jan. 15. Jade Rucker scored 16 points points to help lead the Governors to the victory.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jim’Miyah Branton is averaging 10.2 points and 3.9 assists for the Governors. Anovia Sheals is averaging 14.9 points and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 43.5% over the past 10 games.

Smith is shooting 29.1% and averaging 9.8 points for the Knights. Andrea Chiquemba is averaging 1.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Governors: 3-7, averaging 67.1 points, 28.0 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 8.7 steals and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 44.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.8 points per game.

Knights: 0-10, averaging 45.6 points, 26.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 4.8 steals and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 31.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 81.4 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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