JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State University women's basketball team continues a home stand Sunday, Dec. 5, at 2 p.m. against Alabama State in Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
The weekend match-up marks the 11^th all-time meeting between the two programs. ASU leads the series 7-3.
 
Sunday's contest will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the game on the Gamecock Sports Network and follow live stats at JSUGamecocksports.com.
 
JSU returned to THE PETE earlier this week, defeating Young Harris 91-58 for the second home win of the season and are currently on a three-game winning streak.  
 
Freshman Bre'Anna Rhodes was named the ASUN Freshman of the Week on Monday after averaging nine points and 2.5 rebounds per game at the Turkey Throwdown last week. Rhodes contributed a career-high 13 points off the bench in a come-from-behind win against Indiana State. Against Young Harris, Rhodes added seven points and tied her season-high with three rebounds.
 
Nekiyah Thompson led the Gamecocks with 16 points against the Mountain Lions while Kennedy Gavin totaled 14 points and led the team in rebounds with 11, marking her third double-double of the season and fourth double-digit rebounding game. Keiara Griffin and Imari Martin each added double-figure points against Young Harris with 12 and 11, respectively.
 
Thompson leads the Gamecocks in scoring so far this year with 11.3 points per game. Gavin and Martin are also averaging double-digit points per game with 10.9 and 10.7, respectively. In addition, Gavin leads the team in rebounds, averaging 9.0 on the season. The redshirt senior is averaging 4.3 offensive rebounds per game to lead the ASUN.  

On the defensive end, the Gamecocks are allowing just 55.7 points per game and are undefeated when allowing less than 60 points.
 
Alabama State enters the contest just 1-4 on the season and is coming of its first win, 69-69 over South Alabama, last time out. The Hornets' early non-conference slate featured two Top-25 ranked teams in No. 13 South Florida and No. 20 Georgia. ASU also faced Mississippi State and Auburn earlier this season.

Last year, ASU, led by long-time Head Coach Freda Freeman-Jackson, finished 16-4 overall and second in the SWAC with a 14-3 league record. The squad advanced to the SWAC Championship game but fell short to Jackson State, 67-66.

Freeman-Jackson and JSU Head Coach Rick Pietri are the only two active head coaches in the state of Alabama with more than 300 wins at the NCAA Division I level in the state. They rank two and three all-time in that regard with 344 and 334 wins, respectively.

Ayana Emmanuel leads Alabama State offensively so far, scoring 13.2 points per game. Jada Nneji leads the Hornets in rebounds with 5.2 per game and is averaging 3.0 blocks per game which leads the SWAC and ranks ninth in the NCAA. Along with Emmanuel, Jayla Crawford is scoring double-digits per game with 10.8 and is shooting 43.5 percent from beyond-the-arc.

Offensive rebounding is a point of emphasis for the Hornets as the team leads the SWAC with 16.2 offensive boards per game and ranks 22^nd in NCAA Division I. The Gamecocks feature the ASUN leader and 15^th best individual offensive rebounder in the country in Kennedy Gavin. Emmanuel is averaging 2.6 per game for the Hornets.
 
Tip-off against Alabama State 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).