JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team further added to the program's single-season wins record of the Division I era with a decisive 64-51 win at home over Eastern Kentucky on Thursday.

The win marked the 21^st of the season as the 21-6 (12-3) Gamecock's inch closer to the conclusion of the regular season. Thursday's win over EKU marks the 12^th home win of the year which sets a Division-I program record. JSU is 12-1 inside Pete Mathews Coliseum with just one regular season game remaining.

In a game that featured poor field-goal shooting, the Gamecocks defended well and crashed the boards to outscore the visiting Colonels by seven in second-chance points. JSU added six threes in the win as well while EKU managed just two.

"I was concerned about our focus because we had nothing specific to gain from a standings standpoint because our seeding is locked but I thought our kids came out a lot more focused than I expected to be honest and I thought we defended exceptionally well," said Head Coach Rick Pietri. "I think offensively we were rough around the edges at times, but we were timely in our scoring. Defensively we were able to hold the fort down and finish."

Imari Martin and Kiana Johnson each led the way for JSU with 13 points each. Freshman Bre'Anna Rhodes added eight points and three rebounds off the bench. Kennedy Gavin added eight points and led the Gamecocks on the boards with eight.

JSU started the contest in a familiar way, falling behind 9-2 in the first six and a half minutes. Back-to-back three-pointers from Martin capped a 6-0 run to cut the lead to one, 11-10 at the end of the first period. The Gamecocks opened the second quarter with seven straight points as freshman Bre'Anna Rhodes added a pair of jumpers and Kaiya Burnett drained a three to put JSU on top 17-11. JSU didn't look back and led the rest of the game. JSU built its largest lead of the game with 20 seconds remaining, 64-49. JSU would hold on for the 64-51 win. The Gamecocks were outscored by one point in the first quarter but went on to outscore EKU 54-40 over the next three. JSU's largest advantage came in the third quarter, 22-13.

The Gamecocks clinched the ASUN West Division Championship last week with a win over Bellarmine on the road last week and celebrated with a net cutting ceremony following the win against EKU on Thursday. The West Division Title is the first of any kind for the women's basketball program since transitioning to Division I nearly 28 years ago. JSU won the Gulf South Conference Tournament in 1993.

"Having the opportunity to cut down nets is something special and you don't get the chance to do that a lot," added Pietri. "I think it was a neat experience for our team to be able to do that, so now we put that behind us and look forward to facing a really good North Alabama team on Saturday."

JSU is the No. 1 seed from the West Division in the upcoming ASUN Conference Championship Tournament and has earned a first-round bye. The Gamecocks will host the winner of the No. 5 West/No.4 East matchup in the quarterfinal round on Sunday. Mar. 6, in THE PETE.

The Gamecocks will close out the regular season with Senior Day against North Alabama on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 3:15 p.m.

"Saturday is Senior Day and hopefully that will motivate our kids. North Alabama is a quality opponent who is on a roll, and it will be a challenge for us, hopefully we will be up for the challenge," said Pietri. "The good news for our players is that we don't play for eight days after Saturday. So, we will give them a few days off. So, we can lay it all on the line on Saturday because it's the last one."

Stay up to date with JSU women's basketball by visiting JSUGamecocksports.com and following the team on social media @JSUGamecocksWBB.