JACKSONVILLE – Senior
Lacey Buchanon's heave from just passed the midcourt line that banked in at the third quarter buzzer sparked a 19-0 scoring run to lift Jacksonville State past Georgia Southern, 67-55, on Sunday after afternoon at Pet Mathews Coliseum.
The scoring spurt broke a 45-all deadlock at the end of the three quarters as JSU (2-2) used the buzzer-beater to open the final quarter with the first 11 points to take a 62-45 lead with 5:48 left to play in the home opener. The Eagles (2-2) did not get their first points of the period until a layup by Sierra Butler at the 5:26 mark of the final stanza. The run was aided by senior
Briana Benson, who had two of her four three pointers during that stretch, including a long range basket right before the scoreless streak by GSU ended with Butler's basket.
The win extends JSU's winning streak in home openers to four and pushed JSU Head Coach
Rick Pietri's record in home openers to 16-1.
Benson finished with 14 points and drilled 4-of-9 from behind the arc and nearly turned in her second double-double of the season with eight rebounds. Benson, who was hindered with foul trouble throughout the contest, also had a pair of assist and a steal in her 20 minutes of action.
The Gamecocks turned in their most-complete game of the season as nine of the 12 players that saw the floor, scored in the 12-point win. Jax State turned in a season-best 41.8 shooting percentage from the field and connected on seven three-point baskets. JSU needed no time to extend its streak of consecutive games with a three pointer to 76 games after
Destany McLin drilled one with the first attempt of the game. For the second time in three games, sophomore
Rayven Pearson reached double figures in the scoring column as the Hazel Green, Alabama post player tallied a team-best 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting in 22 minutes of floor action. Buchanon tacked on a season-high 11 points in the contest. The local product played 31 minutes and pulled down four rebounds and a pair of assists.
"This was an excellent composite team-win for us because we had a lot of people contributing today. When they took the lead on us and they made some great plays, the nice thing is that we pushed back and had a lot of different people contribute to that push back," said head coach
Rick Pietri. "I am really proud of our combined-effort that our entire roster gave us."
JSU started strong by shooting 58 percent from the field in the first 10 minutes to take a 10-point, 23-13 lead after the first quarter. GSU trimmed the lead down to 25-22 as the second period neared the midway point, but a 7-0 run over a two-minute span extended the lead back out to 10 points before JSU took a 32-24 lead in to halftime.
"The nice thing about our team right now is that we have the ability to make the perimeter shot, drive it by you and we can throw it to the big people and they can score it, so we have a lot of different ways of scoring when we are clicking," added Pietri. "The long-distance three by
Lacey Buchanon really energized us going in to the fourth quarter."
The Eagles turned in their best 10-minute session of the game in the third quarter, out-scoring JSU 21-16 in the period. GSU put together a 10-0 run to deadlock the game at 43-all at the 1:55 mark of the period and took its only lead of the game at 45-43 after Angel McGowan connected on a basket. That would be the only lead of the contest as JSU's Buchanon would score the final five points of the half.
Junior transfer Kiandria Ki-Ki Patterson and
Tyler Phelion added seven points off the bench to lead JSU's 22-point effort off the bench. Sophomore
Chloe Long scored her first points of the season with six in the contest. Senior
Kelly Naughton had a basket along with
Gretchen Morrison. Freshman
Morgan Towells, redshirt sophomore
Leah Strain and junior transfer
Tasha Magruder all played and had other contributions, but did not score. Strain was credited with two assists, while Magruder grabbed four rebounds.
The Gamecocks have a quick turnaround as they welcome the Privateers of New Orleans to Pete Mathews Coliseum on Tuesday, Nov. 22. Tip off with UNO is set for 5:30 p.m. The game will precede JSU's men's home opener at 7:30 p.m. with Dalton State. For tickets log on to JSUGamecockSports.com. Admission is free to all JSU students and fans 18 years old and younger.
