JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State University women's basketball team advanced to the ASUN Championship Tournament Semifinals with a 70-56 win over Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon in Pete Mathews Coliseum.

Senior Kiana Johnson set a new season-high with 19 points to lead the Gamecocks to their first postseason win since the 2017-18 season. JSU's last quarterfinal win came against Morehead State on Mar. 1, 2018, 69-56 in he OVC tournament. Kyra Williams joined Johnson as the only Gamecock in double-figures with a career-high 13 points on 3-of-3 shooting from the line.

There were just two lead changes in the contest as the Gamecocks controlled the quarterfinal matchup from start to finish, leading for over 36 minutes and by as many as 25 points late in the game.

A 4-0 run opened the game for JSU before the Dolphins took their only lead of the day, 6-4, following a 6-0 run. A three-pointer from Keiara Griffin put JSU ahead 7-6 before closing out the first quarter on a 9-1 run to lead 13-7. The Gamecocks picked up where they left off in the second quarter and built an 11-point lead behind three combined three-pointers from Kyra Williams and Kaiya Burnett, consecutively, to lead 25-14. With 29 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Imari Martin added a bucket inside to give JSU a 12-point advantage, 32-20 at the break. JSU shot 54.1 percent from the field in the first half and held JU to just 28.0 percent.

JSU opened the second half on a 14-2 run to take a 46-22 advantage over the Dolphins. Eight of JSU's 17 made free-throws in the contest came during the opening run of the third quarter. Kennedy Gavin added a layup with 19 seconds to go to put JSU ahead by 23 points, 53-30, at the end of the third quarter. JSU outscored the Dolphins 21-10 in the third. A bucket for Shawnta Shaw to start the fourth quarter gave JSU their largest lead of the game, 55-30. JU stormed back in the fourth and cut JSU's lead to a little as 10 points, 63-53, with 2:05 remaining. A 7-3 run to close out the quarter secured the win for JSU, 70-56, despite being outscored 26-17 in the final 10 minutes.

JSU outrebounded the Dolphins 35-30 and scored 10 second-chance points. Girffin led the Gamecocks with 11 rebounds. 45 percent shooting form the field and 81 percent shooting from the charity-stripe helped carry the Gamecocks to a win while JU shot just 38.9 percent from the floor and 64.7 percent from the line.

With the win, JSU advances to the ASUN Conference Championship Tournament Semifinals for the fourth time in program history, dating back to the team's previous stint in the ASUN between 1995-2003. JSU advances to a conference tournament semifinal for the first time since advancing to the OVC semifinal in 2018. Sunday's win marks just the fourth postseason win for JSU under Head Coach Rick Pietri and the first since 2018.

JSU will host the No. 2 seed from the East Division, Liberty, on Wednesday, Mar. 9, at 6 p.m. in Pete Mathews Coliseum. Visit JSUGamecocksports.com/tickets to purchase tickets to the game.