JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team opened the 2021-22 season with an emphatic 127-65 win over Birmingham Southern in an exhibition contest.

Coach Rick Pietri's veteran squad, led by eight upperclassmen, took no time to adjust to the new season as six players reached double-figures. Senior Imari Martin led all scorers with 20 points while shooting four-of-eight from beyond the arc. Freshman Bre'Anna Rhodes contributed 14 while redshirt senior Kennedy Gavin chipped in 13. Senior Kyra Williams added 12 along with sophomore Keiara Griffin followed by 10 points from seniors Kiana Johnson and Kaiya Burnette. JSU lived in the paint offensively, scoring 86 points inside while BSC managed just 13.

"Everything is relative to who you're playing against and Birmingham Southern has a nice division three team but that's not who we measure ourselves against. It's an exhibition game – a dress rehearsal – and wea re trying to get everybody an opportunity to get out on the floor," said Pietri.  "I thought that for three quarters we played with the right intention, attention, effort, and energy. In the fourth quarter we took it off and that's bothersome, it leaves a little bad taste in your mouth, but the first three I was actually pleased with how we approached it and how we went about our business."

Birmingham Southern's fast pace of play forced the Gamecocks to run the floor, leading to 53 fast break points. The Panthers managed just 12 points on fastbreaks.

"I liked the fact that a number of people were able to finish plays for us whether from the perimeter or near the basket," added Pietri. "The way Birmingham Southern plays they play at an incredibly fast pace because they basically do hockey line changes with their roster, so they want to make the game look crazy. You just have to make sure you are being aggressive without getting crazy yourself. For the most part we did a pretty good job of taking care of the ball and giving ourselves the best chances."

It took just under three minutes before the Gamecocks stated were off and running in the exhibition. Nekiyah Thompson capped a 10-0 run as the Gamecocks took a 10-2 lead following a layup with 7:16 remaining in the period. The lead continued to grow as the Gamecocks began a 28-0 run with 4:24 to go in the first that extended the lead to 34, 47-13, over nearly eight minutes of game time. JSU held the Panthers scoreless in the final minutes of the first, finishing on a 20-0 run. The squad opened the second period on an 8-0 run, pushing the lead to 34. BSC broke up the run in the second period, but the Gamecocks extended the lead to 40, 68-28 at the half.
 
Johnson scored a layup just over three minutes into the third period, capping a 13-2 opening run. A free-throw from Williams put the Gamecocks at the century mark with a 64-point lead, 100-36 with 1:15 remaining in the third.

Birmingham Southern cut into the lead slightly following an 11-4 run through the first 2:54 of the fourth period. With 2:53 to go Martin pushed the Gamecocks to a 66-point lead, their largest lead of the game, 120-54. JSU would go on to win 127-65 in the preseason matchup.
 
Brooke Westhoelter led the Panthers with 10 points and was seven-of-eight from the free-throw line.  

JSU won the turnover battle in the contest, 12-35 and scored 52 points off BSC's mistakes, while giving up just six.

The Gamecocks get back to work the rest of the week preparing for the official start of the 2021-22 campaign, which will come on Tuesday morning against AUM in a Kid's Education Day game in THE PETE. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.