JSU to Face FGCU in ASUN Tournament Final Saturday - Jacksonville State University Athletics

JACKSONVILLE – For the first time since 1999 the Jacksonville State women's basketball team will play in the ASUN Conference Championship Final, taking on No. 20/23 ranked Florida Gulf Coast at 6 p.m. CST on Saturday, Mar. 12.

JSU advanced to the championship final following a thrilling 59-57 win over Liberty in the semifinals after a game-winning layup from Kiana Johnson.

JSU will face FGCU, the No. 1 seed from the East Division and the league's Regular Season Champion. The Eagles are ranked No. 20/No. 23 in the nation with a 28-2 overall record and finished with a 15-1 mark in the ASUN.

Saturday's contest marks the third championship game appearance for the Gamecocks in the Division I era. In the two previous meetings in 1997 and 1999, the Gamecocks fell short. With a win on Saturday JSU would punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Division-I program history.

This season JSU has produced the winningest season in Division-I program history, winning 24 games and losing just six. All-time, including both Division-I and Division-II, the most wins in a season is 26. A host of D-I records have been set by the Gamecocks this season that includes the most wins (24), most non-conference wins (9), most conference wins (13) and the most home wins (15).

Kiana Johnson is scoring 9.2 points per game on the season but is averaging 20 points per game in the ASUN Tournament. Johnson scored 19 points in the quarterfinal and added a career-high 21 in the semifinal.

Senior Imari Martin leads JSU with 10.8 points per game on the year. Martin had five points in the win over Liberty, including a layup with 12.6 seconds remaining, to put the Gamecocks up by three. Senior Kennedy Gavin chipped in 17 points in the win over Liberty and leads JSU in rebounding this year.

JSU enters the ASUN Final on a seven-game win streak and can match the longest win streak of the Division-I era with another win. A win over the Eagles on Saturday would be monumental for the JSU women's basketball program, marking the first win over a ranked team, the first D-I conference tournament championship and the first D-I NCAA Tournament appearance.

JSU has had success outscoring its opponents in the second half this season and is 17-0 when leading at halftime. FGCU trailed at the half in the semifinal against Stetson, but used a big fourth quarter to come back and win.

The Gamecocks are 0-1 against FGCU all-time, falling 66-44 in a previous meeting this season in Jacksonville, Ala.

The game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can follow live stats at JSUGamecocksports.com and listen to the game with Mike Parris on the JSU Gamecock Sports Network.

Tip-off against FGCU is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST Links to live stats and other available sources will be available at JSUGamecockSports.com as well as shared across JSU's social media platforms when they become available. In-game updates are also available by following the women's basketball twitter account (@JaxStateWBB).

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Players Mentioned

Kennedy Gavin

Kiana Johnson

Imari Martin

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