JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team closed out the regular season with a dominant 68-49 over North Alabama in Pete Mathews Coliseum on Senior Day, Saturday.

The ASUN West Division Champions left no doubt finished the season 13-3 in league play, marking the best conference record of the program's Division-I era. With Saturday's win over UNA the Gamecocks finished with a 10-0 record in ASUN West Division games, beating each team at home and on the road. JSU's only three losses in league play were to East Division foes.

Prior to Saturday's contest, six seniors were recognized for JSU as part of Senior Day. Graduate student Kiana Johnson, a five-year member of the program, led the group as she participated in her 129th game today – a program record for games played. Seniors Kennedy Gavin, Kaiya Burnett, Imari Martin, Shawnta Shaw and Kyra Williams were also recognized alongside Johnson.

Junior Nekiyah Thompson led the way for JSU in the win with 13 points and three assists. Thompson was also JSU's leader on defense and recorded two steals to go along with two charges drawn.  Sophomore Keiara Griffin led the Gamecocks on the boards with eight. Griffin and Gavin each added 10 points for the squad.

The Gamecocks fell behind to start the game, but a late 10-2 run in the first quarter pushed JSU into a lead they would hold the rest of the way. Thompson drained a three-pointer at the 2:21 mark in the first to put JSU ahead 13-10, igniting the run. Thompson and McCoy each added a layup while Martin and McCoy combined for three free-throws down the stretch of the first quarter to complete the run and give the Gamecocks a 20-12 lead. North Alabama cut JSU's lead to one point, 25-24, late in the second quarter before a free-throw from Griffin and layup from Winnie Kuimi put the Gamecocks on top, 28-24 at halftime. Less than two minutes into the start of the third quarter Griffin pushed the lead to seven with a three-pointer, 31-24. JSU put its foot-on-the-gas the rest of the way following the bucket and outscored the Lions 40-25 in the second half. McCoy pushed the lead to 17 with a three-pointer at the 1:51 mark in the third. JSU went on to hold at least a nine-point lead for the rest of the game and led by as many as 19 on five separate occasions in the fourth quarter in route to the 68-49 win.

JSU's stout defense limited the Lions high-powered offense to just 49 points by keeping them off the free-throw line, cleaning the glass, and forcing turnovers. UNA shot just 38 percent in the contest but did manage eight three-pointers. The Gamecocks outrebounded the visitors 41-29 overall and 11-3 on the offensive glass, allowing zero second chance points. The Lions attempted just five free-throws in the game while JSU was 14-of-20 from the line. The Gamecocks also scored 23 points off of 21 UNA turnovers.

JSU's historic regular season came to an end on Saturday with a 22-6 overall record which will go into the record books as the winningest regular-season in Division-I program history. JSU's 12-1 mark at home and 13-3 mark in conference play are also Division-I program records. The squad closes out the regular season on a five-game winning streak and did not lose back-to-back games at all this year.

JSU will return to action in the ASUN Conference Tournament on Sunday, Mar. 6 at 3 p.m. in the Quarterfinals. JSU is the No. 1 seed from the West and earned a first-round bye. The Gamecocks will meet the winner of a matchup between Jacksonville and Central Arkansas. Tickets are on sale now for the ASUN Tournament. Visit JSUGamecocksports.com/Tickets to purchase yours today. Adult tickets can be purchased for $10 while kid's tickets are $5. JSU students will receive free admission.

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