MARTIN, Tenn. – Sophomore Yamia Johnson's explosive 32-point game wasn't enough for the Jacksonville State women's basketball team, falling to Ohio Valley Conference leader UT Martin at the Elam Center Saturday.
Johnson finished 12-of-19 from the field, and 7-for-11 from beyond the arc, as the Gamecocks (10-13, 6-6 OVC) tried to knock-off the top team in the league for a second-straight Saturday. The Skyhawks (15-8, 11-1 OVC) were paced by the conference's leading scoring in Chelsea Perry with 27.
The 32 points by Johnson are the most by a Gamecock in almost 17 years to the day since Shanika Freeman set a program Division I record with 42 against Florida Atlantic on Feb. 6, 2003. It's the most points on the road since Freeman tallied 37 earlier that season in 2002 at UAB. The most recent Gamecock to touch 30 prior to Saturday was Gretchen Morrison with 31 against Tuskegee in 2015.
Her seven treys were part of 12 total for Jax State, coincidentally coming at the site of JSU's program record 16-made-threes at UT Martin on Dec. 31, 2016. The 12 triples made on Saturday ties for the fourth-most in a game against a Division I opponent. JSU buried 13 at Auburn earlier this season. The outside presence has been a big part of the Gamecock offense this season and the team now zeros in on setting the program record for three-pointers in a season as a team. JSU has 165 makes from behind the arc this season, two shy of the 2017-18 team's 167 clip with six regular-season games still to play.
Johnson's big day didn't start early coming off the bench, but after JSU fell behind 20-9 in the opening quarter, the Lexington, S.C., native, entered for the final 48 seconds of the first stanza. Her first bucket came two minutes into the second, but an ensuing 5-of-7 mark from the floor propelled her to the top of JSU's scoring list with 14 points at the halftime break.
Outscoring UTM 25-22 in the second, JSU trimmed the halftime margin to 42-34. Johnson was 3-of-4, all three-pointers, in the third and the Gamecocks shaved another point off the lead with a 20-point period making it 61-54 heading to the fourth.
After converting an old-fashion three-point play with a free throw, Johnson brought JSU to within seven again at the 7:32 mark. But a backbreaking 7-0 run for UTM just before the media timeout wiped away two-and-a-half quarters worth of a comeback for the JSU after a slow start. The Skyhawks didn't slow up in the closing stages expanding the lead back out to as many as 17 before the 86-72 final.
JSU made just one fewest field goal than UTM (26-27) during the game, but the Skyhawks managed to find themselves at the charity stripe on 20 more occasions (12-32) and finished 26-for-32 in those attempts.
JSU has a second0straight road weekend next week when it travels to Tennessee Tech on Thursday and then stops at Belmont on Saturday afternoon.
