LYNCHBURG, VA – The Jacksonville State Gamecocks suffered its first ASUN road loss of the season, 62-57 against Liberty, falling to 15-5 overall and 6-2 in the ASUN.

JSU trailed by nine at halftime but outscored the Flames 30-26 in the second half. The third quarter was pivotal for the Gamecocks to get back in the game. JSU poured on 19 points and held Liberty to just 11 points in the quarter to trail by one, 46-47, entering the fourth. Liberty held JSU to 11 points its lowest point total of the night to halt the Gamecocks comeback bid in the fourth.

Senior Imari Martin led the way with a team-high 16 points on a career-high 11-of-14 shooting from the free-throw line.

"I'm thoroughly disappointed with how we started the game," said Head Coach Rick Pietri. "We dug ourselves into a deficit from the beginning but when we are were fully engaged, we proved that we can play with these guys. I think that it was important for our players to prove to themselves that we could compete and even win in an environment like this so that should we see them again, we know we have a chance and I think that is really important."

Liberty opened the contest hitting its first four buckets to lead 9-2 before Senior guard Shawnta Shaw provided a fiery six points in the last three minutes of the first quarter, pulling the Gamecocks within five, 19-14, on an 8-4 run.  The Gamecocks cut the lead to three early in the second quarter but were unable to slow down the flames as they led by nine, 36-27, at the half. A 9-4 opening run for JSU in the third quarter made it a four-point game, 40-36, after a layup from Winnie Kuimi. Liberty pushed the lead back to seven but a buzzer beating three from Griffin cut the lead to one, 47-46. Liberty pulled away from the Gamecocks and led by as many as seven in the fourth quarter.

The Flames entered the game fourth in the nation in rebounding margin but outrebounded the Gamecocks by just one, 34-33. JSU recorded a team-high 14 offensive boards and scored 11 second chance points. Senior Kennedy Gavin led JSU on the boards with seven while Martin added six and Williams recorded a career-high five.

For the 20^th time this season JSU won the turnover battle, 14-6, and scored 24 points off turnovers which helped the squad stay in the game despite shooting just 33 percent from the floor. Liberty finished 52 percent from the floor.

The bench played a big role for JSU as Shaw scored eight of JSU's 18 bench points. Kuimi added six points and four rebounds in her reserve role.

"Our bench kids really stepped up and kept us in the game," said Pietri. "I feel good about our effort, particularly in the second half but I'm still disappointed about how we are starting games and we have to find a way to fix that."

The Gamecocks will return home to take on North Florida on Thursday, Feb. 3^rd at 5:15 p.m. Stay up to date with JSU women's basketball at JSUGamecocksports.com and on social media @JSUGamecocksWBB.