JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team defeated AUM 89-39 to open the 2021-22 season in Pete Mathews Coliseum on Tuesday.

Junior Nekiyah Thompson led the Gamecocks with a career-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 shooting from downtown. Thompson was one of five Gamecocks that scored in double-figures.

"As the starting point guard [Nekiyah] really stepped up. She was able to make some plays from the perimeter and going to the goal," said Head Coach Rick Pietri. "She has been in our program for two years and has been a key contributor as a reserve and now she's in the role she's in, which she has earned. She did a great job this afternoon and earned everything she got."

Seniors Imari Martin and Kennedy Gavin Contributed 14 and 13 points, respectively, followed by 10 each from seniors Shawnta Shaw and Kiana Johnson.

Shaw scored 10 of the Gamecocks' 28 total bench points and led the team in assists with five, both are career-highs.

"We feel really good about our point guard position," added Pietri. "We have two really good point guards and depth is always a good thing. We are happy to have the kind of depth we have for that spot."

Gavin led JSU on the boards with 13 for a double-double.


JSU started the first game of the season off to a slow start and fell behind 7-6 at the first media timeout with 4:46 remaining in the period. Out of the timeout a layup and three-pointer from Thompson put the Gamecocks ahead, 11-7. A layup from Shaw and jumper from freshman Bre'Anna Rhodes extended the lead to eight, 15-7. JSU held AUM scoreless in the final 4:46 and ended the period on a 9-0 run.
The offense continued to find its rhythm in the second period as Shaw put the Gamecocks up 11, 24-13, at the 8:10 mark, with her first three-pointer of the contest. An ensuing and-one play for Shaw quickly gave the Gamecocks a 14-point advantage, 24-13 with 7:14 to go before half time. JSU held AUM scoreless in the final 2:15 of the half as a layup from Gavin pushed the lead to 21 with 40 seconds remaining, capping a 5-0 run. The Gamecocks scored a game-high 27 points in the second period and led 42-21 at the half.

A 21-point lead at the half turned into 30 for the Gamecocks less than four minutes into the third period. Thompson capped an 14-5 opening run with a layup in the paint, giving JSU a 56-26 lead. Martin drained a three-pointer to push the lead to 35, 67-32, following a 10-5 run, with 1:59 remaining in the third. After scoring 25 points in the third period the Gamecocks led 67-33.

The points continued to flow, and defense shined in the fourth period as the Gamecocks outscored AUM 22-6 in the fourth period., JSU opened the final ten minutes on a 17-2 run. After being held scoreless for nearly seven minutes, the Warhawks broke the drought with a jumper from Gracie Lee at the 1:19 mark. Martin added two more three-pointers in the final minutes to bring the teams total to 10 and as the Gamecocks went on to win, 89-39 to start the season.  

Today's win marks the ninth consecutive home-opening win for the Gamecocks under Head Coach Rick Pietri.

"What I liked about this game was that we played all four quarters. We didn't do that in the exhibition, and we didn't do that in the scrimmages we had before. I like the fact that we played all four quarters and that everybody that played competed, and they played while not paying attention to the score," said Pietri.  "We talk regularly about the fact that our attention and focus shouldn't change whether we are up 30 or down 30. We should compete at the same level, and I thought we competed even though we were up. I'm appreciative of that and we showed that we can play four quarters of a game with the right level of focus of course there are always going to be mistakes we will work those out and work to improve those mistakes. Now as we head into a long road stretch, we must have some toughness about us and fierceness about us as we get to engage in this long road stretch."
 
JSU's largest lead of the contest was 50 while AUM's largest lead was one, held for just one minute. There were three ties and four lead changes. JSU led for 37 minutes and four seconds.

Gavin led the Gamecocks with 13 rebounds as the side outrebounded AUM 45-19, including a 20-3 advantage on the offensive glass.  JSU outscored the Warhawks in the paint, 36-20, in second-chance points 20-3 and in points from turnovers, 26-0. JSU committed just eight turnovers and forced 24 for AUM. Thompson, Martin, Shaw and sophomore Madison McCoy all led the Gamecocks in steals with two each. JSU totaled 14 for the game while AUM managed just three.

From the floor, JSU finished 33-of-71 for 46.5 percent while AUM was just 16-of-44 for 36.4 percent. JSU held a large advantage from downtown, finishing 10-27 for 37.0 percent while AUM was 3-of-14 for 21.4 percent.


The Gamecocks will continue the 2021-22 season this weekend on the road against Davidson College. Tip off is set for 12 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 14, in Davidson, North Carolina. Fans can watch live on ESPN+ and follow live stats by visiting JSUgamecocksports.com.