Box Score JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's basketball defeated Saint Francis 60-43 on Tuesday afternoon in Pete Mathews Coliseum to improve to 8-3 overall on the season.

JSU improved to 5-0 at home on the year, marking the sixth consecutive win inside THE PETE.

Kiana Johnson led the Gamecocks in scoring with 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor. Senior Kaiya Burnett added 11 points off the bench and was 3-of-5 from beyond-the-arc. JSU outrebounded the Red Flash 33-30, led by Kennedy Gavin with eight boards.

JSU's defense proved to be the difference in the win, holding its opponent to under 45 points for third time this season. The Gamecocks scored 28 points off 20 Saint Francis turnovers.

After falling behind 4-0 to start, an 8-0 run over gave JSU an 8-4 lead with 4:02 remaining in the first quarter. With 1:51 to go freshman Bre Rhodes drained a baseline jumper to extend the run to 16, giving JSU a 16-4 lead. Rhodes added another bucket in the final minute to give JSU an 18-6 advantage at the end of the first. Senior Kaiya Burnett led the Gamecocks with five points on the bench in the first ten minutes.

Rhodes extended JSU's lead to 16 with a jumper at the 7:50 mark of the second quarter to lead 22-6. A three-pointer from Saint Francis' Lilli Benzel capped a 6-2 run for the Red Flash over the final 37 seconds and cut JSU's lead to 12, 28-16, at the break.
A 12-6 run for the Red Flash cut JSU's lead to eight, 28-36 with 2:42 remaining in the third. JSU closed out the quarter on a 7-2 run, extending the lead to 13, 43-30, following a buzzer-beating jumper from Rhodes.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Burnett pushed the Gamecocks' lead to 18, 50-32. After the Red Flash trimmed the lead to 15, senior Kyra Williams gave JSU its largest lead of the game, 60-39 with 1:29 remaining. The Gamecocks would go on to win, 60-43.

JSU finished perfect from the free-throw line, shooting 8-for-8. Williams and junior Nekiyah Thompson each finished 8-of-8 from the line.

Up next, the Gamecocks will return to Pete Mathews Coliseum on Thursday, Dec. 30, to take on the Chattanooga Mocs. Tip-off is set for 5:15 p.m. Stay up to date with JSU women's basketball at JSUGamecocksports.com and on social media @JSUGamecocks.