JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team earned its 17^th win of the season, defeating Jacksonville 72-59 on Saturday afternoon in Pete Mathews Coliseum.

JSU led by as many as 22 points early in the fourth quarter and outscored the Dolphins in the first three quarters before the visitors rallied with 26 points in the final 7:41 of the game. Despite being outscored late; the Gamecocks were able to hold onto the lead for the eighth conference win of the season.

"We defended exceptionally well for three quarters and to start the fourth quarter we defended well but once we got to that 22-point lead, we just completely stopped playing," said Head Coach Rick Pietri. "To Jacksonville's credit, they didn't roll over. They put the foot on the accelerator, and we couldn't get our minds back to what we needed to be doing. They started attacking us with pressure and honestly, we had handled the pressure well up until that point, but we just got soft and weak and allowed the to really push it back from 22 all the way to seven."

With the win the Gamecocks move to 10-1 overall at home on the season, are 17-5 overall and 8-2 in the ASUN.

Senior Imari Martin led a group of three Gamecocks in double-figure points with 17 on 3-of-four shooting from beyond the arc. Martin's first three-pointer of the Gamecock marked her 50^th of the season. She has 96 in her career and is just four away from becoming the second-fastest player in program history to reach 100 career three-pointers. In addition to Martin, junior Nekiyah Thompson added 10 points while senior Kyra Williams tied her career-high with 12 off the bench.

After nearly two and a half scoreless minutes to open the game, Martin scored a layup to give JSU a 2-0 lead. Kiana Johnson put the Gamecocks up seven, capping a 9-2 run at the 5:20 mark, and forced a Jacksonville timeout. JU trimmed the lead to two late in the first before a second-chance bucket from Williams put JSU up 14-10 at the end of the quarter.

JSU outscored the Dolphins 6-0 over a seven-minute stretch to begin the second. Jacksonville closed the second half on a 9-3 run. A late and-one opportunity for Keiara Griffin gave the Gamecocks a 24-19 lead at halftime.

The Gamecocks exploded offensively in the third quarter, scoring 23 points and held the Dolphins to 12 to lead 47-31 at the end of the third. A jumper from Williams gave JSU its largest lead of the game in the fourth, 55-33. Following the bucket, the Dolphins began a 19-6 run to cut JSU's lead to nine, 61-52. Martin pushed JSU's lead to 12 after hitting three-free throws with 2:54 remaining. JU cut the lead to seven down the stretch but six free-throws over the final two minutes helped the Gamecocks hold on for the 72-59 win, despite allowing 28 points in the final quarter.

"The good news is we were able to hold them off. We made a bunch of free-throws late. We didn't shoot them well for the game, but we shot well late," said Pietri. "We did just enough to hold them off and get a 13-point win. I'm happy that our kids were able to finish this. Now we put this behind us and move on to the next one."

JSU has proven to play more effectively in the second half this season and that continued against the Dolphins as the Gamecocks scored 48 points in the second half compared to just 24 in the first.

A 45-33 advantage on the boards and 16-10 edge on the offensive glass proved as an important advantage for the Gamecocks. Senior Kennedy Gavin led the way with 11 rebounds. JSU is 13-0 when outrebounding its opponents.

With just six games remaining in the regular season the Gamecocks are just two wins away from tying the D-I single-season wins record.

"We have six games left, that's three weeks. These last three weeks will be very telling. We put together a solid resume to this point but that has nothing to do with the last three weeks," added Pietri. "We have to find a way to bear down and maintain some focus and find a way to finish. We got off to a good start, 8-2 in the league and there's not a whole lot more you can do than that, but we just have to find a way to finish."

Up next, the Gamecocks will close out cross divisional play in the East with a road trip to Stetson on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Stay up to date with the Gamecocks at JSUGamecocksports.com and on social media @JSUGamecockWBB.