After a week of preparations, the Troy women’s basketball team will be back in action today at 2 p.m. against Austin Peay.

“I’m pleased with our preparation this week,” said head coach Michael Murphy. “We’ve had a week off, so we’ve had to make sure that we are still ready to play. When you practice three or four days in a row without practicing, things have a tendency to get stale. Of course, we try to combat that by varying what we do in practice, and I think we’ve done a nice job of that.”

The Lady Govs came into the 2009-10 season as the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions, but are just 3-6 on the young season. The Govs will also be looking for revenge from last season, when Troy traveled to Clarksville, Tenn., and came away with a 65-61 win.

“The important thing to remember is that they are the defending Ohio Valley Conference tournament champions,” Murphy said. “We beat them last year at their place, so they’ll probably have some motivation to come in here and beat us.”

Austin Peay should be improved from a year ago, as it has proven players and has been battle-tested already this season.

“They have everybody back off of that team from a year ago,” Murphy said. “Their record may be a little deceiving, but they’re a good team and they won’t worry about coming in here and playing a road game against us because they’ve already had some tough road games this year.”

As far as the style of game that will be played Saturday, Murphy said the Lady Govs will be a high-energy squad that will look to rebound the basketball and shoot the 3-point shot effectively with great frequency.

“We are really going to have to work hard to match their effort,” Murphy said. “They are going to come after us no matter what the score is. They are relentless on the boards and they have shot 35 more 3-pointers than their opponents. They are going to continue to come after us the entire game, and we just have to be ready for that.”

Still, facing a quality opponent with NCAA tournament experience such as Austin Peay should help Troy to evaluate its progress as a team thus far on the young season.

“This is definitely a game against a quality opponent, so that will help you to see where you are any time you play a team like this,” Murphy said. “We’ve got to come ready to play our best game because they are definitely going to be a challenge.”

The Trojans and the Lady Govs tip off at 2 p.m. within the friendly confines of Trojan Arena.