Six days of March Madness began on the First Coast when the ASUN Women’s Basketball Tournament opened on March 3 with a 63-56 victory for eighth-seeded Austin Peay over No. 9 Lipscomb, at the University of North Florida’s UNF Arena.
It was the first of 22 games in the women’s and men’s tournaments, held at three Jacksonville venues. After Austin Peay and Lipscomb played, No. 5 Florida Gulf Coast faced No. 12 Bellarmine at 2:30 p.m., No. 7 West Georgia played No. 10 North Florida at 5 p.m. (at Jacksonville University’s Swisher Gym) and No. 6 North Alabama took on No. 11 Queens at 7:30 p.m.
Jim’Miyah Branton led the Governors (17-12) with 18 points and Anovia Sheals added 17 points and 10 rebounds. Molly Heard led Lipscomb (10-20) with 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
“The ASUN is doing something really unique, going to a neutral site [for the tournaments]” said Austin Peay coach Brittany Young. “We’re part of the history of the ASUN moving to Jacksonville as its home.”
“We had a good time in Jacksonville and we look forward to coming back here,” Lipscomb coach Lauren Smuski added.
Austin Peay led 30-14 early in the third period, but the Bisons cut the margin to four points twice as Heard, Miller and Hope Counts hit timely 3-pointers. But after Miller’s 3-pointer with 2:59 left shaved Austin Peay’s lead to 55-51, the Governors stayed ahead by making 8 of 14 free throws in the final 2:37.
The North Florida-West Georgia winner takes on No. 2-seeded Jacksonville on March 5 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena at 5 p.m. Top-seeded Eastern Kentucky plays Austin Peay at noon, No. 4 Stetson meets the Gulf Coast-Bellarmine winner at 2:30 p.m. and No. 3 Central Arkansas plays the North Alabama-Queens winner at 7:30 p.m.
ASUN Men begin play on March 4
The men’s tournament begins on March 4 with three games at UNF Arena and one at Swisher Gym between seventh-seeded West Georgia and No. 10 North Florida at 7:30 p.m.
Jacksonville University, seeded eighth, will play No. 9 Bellarmine at noon, No. 5 Florida Gulf Coast plays No. 12 North Alabama at 2:30 p.m. and No. 7 Eastern Kentucky plays No. 10 Stetson at 5 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting asunsports.org/tickets.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: ASUN women’s basketball tournament tips off with Austin Peay victory
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
