Women's Basketball Looks to Rebound at The Pete on Tuesday - Jacksonville State University Athletics

JACKSONVILLE – After a pair of narrow losses on the road, Jacksonville State women's basketball (1-2) returns home on Tuesday afternoon for a Thanksgiving week bout with Life University (5-2).

The Gamecocks split their matchups in the opening week of the 2022-23 season, thumping Shorter 114-33 on Nov. 7 before falling 52-44 at Georgia on Nov. 13. In their only matchup last week, Jax State dropped a back-and-forth affair with ETSU, 55-54. Back at home for the first time since opening day, JSU looks to end this losing skid and get back to .500 in their final contest against a non-NCAA Division I opponent.

Tuesday's game at Pete Mathews Coliseum will be part of a men's and women's doubleheader. Pietri's women's squad will tip-off at 4:15 p.m. against Life University, while the men take on Elon at 6 p.m. Jacksonville State's showdown with Life will mark the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

The Running Eagles, a NAIA program out of Marietta, Ga., have only fielded a women's basketball team since 2016-17 and have tallied just one winning season (2018-19). However, first-year head coach Ashawnte Hawkins has already found some success early in her tenure at Life. Her veteran squad has won five of their first seven games to start the season and should provide a strong test for the Gamecocks in Calhoun County.

Life has a pair of high-scoring athletes to keep an eye on in center Fapou Semebene and guard Maikya Simmons. Semebene, a transfer from Wayland Baptist, comes in averaging 10.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. Simmons, a product of South Georgia Tech, leads the team with 11.5 points per game and averages 7.0 boards per contest. The Running Eagle defense has recorded 9.0 steals and 3.7 blocks per game and Life's offense is hitting 36% of their shots so far in 2022-23.

With a 14-point outing at ETSU last week, Shawnta Shaw took over as Jacksonville State's leading scorer on the season. The Troy transfer is scoring 13.3 points per game. Imari Martin (11.0 points, 4.7 rebounds per game), Kyra Williams (8.7 points per game), and NeKiyah Thompson (8.3 points per game) are not far behind Shaw. JSU's top rebounders are graduate forward Kennedy Gavin, who's averaging 6.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, and Madison McCoy, who has 14 boards in three appearances (4.7 per game). Thanks to their dominant 81-point blowout of Shorter, JSU is still outscoring opponents 70.7-46.7 per game this year and are out-shooting the opposition 40.1% to 31.0%. In addition, the Gamecocks have a +7.7 turnover margin and have posted 9.3 steals per game to this point.

JSU has not lost to a non-NCAA Division I opponent in nearly a decade. Their last such defeat came on Dec. 7, 2012, versus Reinhardt (65-60). Pietri is 12-0 in matchups against Division II, Division III, or NAIA opponents at Jacksonville State.

Fans unable to attend Tuesday's game in Jacksonville can follow along with all the action via streaming or listening on the radio. Chase Robinson and Gerhard Mathangani will be on the call on ESPN+, while Hall of Famer Mike Parris will cover the matchup on the Gamecock Sports Network.

Links to follow along with live stats or to watch or listen to Tuesday's night contest will be provided at JSUGamecockSports.com. Score updates and highlights will be posted on JSU women's basketball's Twitter account (@JSUGamecocksWBB).

To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, be sure to follow their Facebook (Jacksonville State University Women's Basketball), Twitter (@JSUGamecocksWBB), and Instagram (@JSUGamecocksWBB) accounts.

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Players Mentioned

Kennedy Gavin

Imari Martin

Shawnta Shaw

NeKiyah Thompson

Kyra Williams

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