JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team used a balanced scoring attack in its dress rehearsal for the 2016-17 season with an 89-46 win over Miles College on Sunday afternoon at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

JSU Head Coach Rick Pietri's fourth squad features 14 players and all 14 saw action in the exhibition contest and 13 registered points in the scoring column, led by senior Brian Benson's game-high 19 points.  Benson picked up right up where she finished her junior campaign as the Jonesboro, Georgia native starts her final season at JSU as the leading point producer for the Gamecocks.   Benson finished the friendly shooting 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 from the three-point range.  She tallied her point total in just 21 minutes of floor time. 

After last season's roster dwindled to seven total players, JSU's bench provided a spark on Sunday as junior forward Tyler Phelion recorded 17 points off the bench and grabbed five rebounds in just 11 minutes of playing time.  Junior Gretchen Morrison was the third Gamecock to reach double digits in points with 10 points.  The Gamecocks welcomed redshirt senior Destany McLin back to competition as well as transfer and Jacksonville native Lacey Buchanon, who joined the program from Troy.  McLin turned in six points and four boards in her return – all coming in the first 20 minutes of the contest.  Buchanon, who will be JSU's main floor general, had a basket and three assists in 16 minutes of action.

JSU, who led from the opening tip, put together back-to-back 22 point efforts in the first and second quarters and limited the Golden Bears to 11 points in each 10-minute session to take a commanding 44-22 lead at halftime.  The Gamecocks, who accumulated the most points since posting 83 points in an overtime win at Morehead State in February of 2015, put the game away with a 30-8 third period.  JSU opened the contest shooting 53 percent from the field and a pair of 41 percent field goal shooting efforts in the second and third periods.  Jax State finished the game shooting nearly 40 percent from the field, while limiting Miles to 20 percent shooting.  JSU, one of the top three-point shooting teams in the Ohio Valley Conference a year ago, hit 9-of-27 from three-point range.   The Golden Bears went 10-of-50 from the field, but tallied 24 of their 46 points from the free throw line.

"I have always geared the exhibition games toward a dress rehearsal – the first time we put the uniforms on and get out in front of an audience.  I told the team that all 14 players would play, no matter what happened.  The good news is that weplayed all 14 and we had everyone play at least eight minutes and no more than 21 minutes.  We had some people do some really good things," said head coach Rick Pietri.  "Today allowed us to see what we need to get better at, so all-in-all it was a positive experience."

Sophomore Rayven Pearson and redshirt sophomore Leah Strain added seven points each.  JSU had five others make their debut in a JSU uniform as junior transfers Kiandria 'Ki-Ki' Patterson turned in six points and Tasha Magruder pitched in three points.  Redshirt freshman Jada Coggins played eight minutes and scored three points and pulled down four rebounds.  Freshman Morgan Towells also added three points and four rebounds.  Freshman McKenna Lawrence did not record a point, but grabbed four rebounds and had a steal in her collegiate debut.

Javonne Brown led Miles with 15 points off the bench, while Ashley McCrear turned in 11 points in the setback.

The Gamecocks now turn their attention to 12^th-ranked Florida State in the 2016-17 season debut on Friday, Nov. 11 in Tallahassee, Florida.  Tip off is set 11:30 a.m. CST.  The Veteran's Day contest will be available on the ACC Network Extra. 

"We just have to prepare for them and they will look a lot different than our opponent today.  We just need to go out and compete and do the best we can," added Pietri.

JSU will play its first three games on the road before hosting Georgia Southern on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 3:30 p.m.  Following the opener at FSU, Jax State will visit Kennesaw State (Nov.14) and Mississippi (Nov. 17).