Gamecocks Host Saint Francis Tuesday - Jacksonville State University Athletics

JACKSONVILLE - The Jacksonville State University women's basketball team returns to action, Tuesday Dec. 21, against Saint Francis in Pete Mathews Coliseum, continuing a four-game home stand.

JSU returns to THE PETE for the fifth home game of the season and have won five straight in Jacksonville with a 61-48-win last time out over ETSU.

Tuesday's matchup marks the first all-time meeting between the two programs.

The game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can follow live stats at JSUGamecocksports.com and listen to the game with Mike Parris on the JSU Gamecock Sports Network.

Kiana Johnson led the Gamecocks with 16 points in the win last time out and is averaging 16.8 points per game over the last three outings. Nekiyah Thompson added a team-high five assists last time out and is averaging 4.5 per game on the season. Freshman Bre'Anna Rhodes was the second-leading scorer for the Gamecocks against ETSU with nine points off the bench.

Thompson is JSU's leading scorer with 11.0 points per game and has started all 10 contests at point guard. Over the last five games she is averaging 6.8 assists per game. She remains the Gamecocks' top three-point shooter with a 45.5 percent clip on the year. Just behind Thompson, Imari Martin is JSU's second leading scorer with 10.9 points per game. Martin leads JSU from beyond-the-arc with 2.1 made three-pointers per game. Rounding out the top three scorers is redshirt senior Kennedy Gavin, scoring 9.4 points per game. Gavin is leading the team on the boards with 7.3 rebounds per game. She has totaled double-digit rebounds four times to go along with three double-doubles and led the team with 17 points against Samford. Gavin is averaging 3.0 offensive rebounds per game.

On the defensive end, the Gamecocks are allowing just 55.6 points per game and are undefeated when allowing less than 60 points. Offensively, JSU is scoring 70.1 points per game and is the only team in the ASUN in the top four in scoring defense and scoring offense. Jax State is 4-0 when scoring 70 points or more.

Saint Francis enters the contest 0-10 overall on the year and is seeking its first win since Mar. 5, 2021. Last year, the Red Flash finished third in the Northeast Conference with a 12-4 league record and 14-9 overall record.

The visitors are coming off an 82-45 loss at Georgia last time out and are 0-8 on the road this season.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Maxwell leads the Red Flash with 8.3 points per game on the season and has started all 10 contests. In addition, Maxwell is shooting a team-leading 43.5 percent from beyond-the-arc. Senior Jada Dapaa is scoring 6.6 points per game and leads Saint Francis on the boards with 9.2 rebounds per game. She is also shooting a team-high 50 percent from the field. Maxwell and Dapaa each had a team-high eight points against Georgia. Dapaa totaled 10 boards against the Dawgs and has recorded double-digit rebounds six times this season. Dapaa leads the NEC in rebounding and is one of the top-60 rebounders in NCAA Division I. The Red Flash was only outrebounded by one, 33-32, against Georgia.

Tip-off against Saint Francis is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT. Links to live stats and other available sources will be available at JSUGamecockSports.com as well as shared across JSU's social media platforms when they become available. In-game updates are also available by following the women's basketball twitter account (@JaxStateWBB).

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Players Mentioned

Kennedy Gavin

Kiana Johnson

Imari Martin

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