JACKSONVILLE – A game-winning layup at the buzzer from Jacksonville State Senior Kiana Johnson lifted the Gamecocks women's basketball team over Liberty, 59-57, in the ASUN Conference Championship Semifinal and sends the squad to its first ASUN Conference Championship Final since 1999.

JSU called timeout with 3.3 seconds remaining in the game following a game-tying layup from Liberty. On the ensuing out-of-bounds play, Johnson went straight to the hoop and laid the game-winning shot off the glass as time expired, handing the Flames just their fourth loss of the season.

JSU's historic season continues as the Gamecocks' seventh win in a row pushes the season record to 24-6 overall and to 15-1 inside Pete Mathews Coliseum.

Johnson scored a career-high 21 points in the win over the No. 2 seeded Flames and finished 9-of-10 from the field. Her 90 percent field-goal percentage is tied for the fourth-best all-time in JSU program history. The last player to shoot 90 percent or better on 10 or more attempts for the Gamecocks was Shanika Freeman on Nov. 26, 2002. Johnson was also a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line.

Along with Johnson, Kennedy Gavin chipped in 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor. Senior Shawnta Shaw added 13 points in 18 minutes off the bench.

The Gamecocks opened the contest on an 8-0 run, with all eight points coming from Johnson, to take control early, and never looked back. JSU led for the entire game and by as many as nine. Throughout the game Liberty tied the Gamecocks three times but could never take the lead. Midway through the second quarter Winnie Kuimi pushed JSU's lead to six, 17-11, before a 9-4 run for the Flames cut the lead to one, 21-20. An ensuing jumper in the paint from Gavin and a fastbreak layup from Johnson gave JSU a five-point lead, 25-20, at halftime. JSU held Liberty to just 28.6 percent shooting from the field while shooting 44.0 percent. Liberty opened the third qu+arter on a 4-0 run, cutting the lead to one, 25-24, and forcing a JSU timeout. Liberty tied it 30-30 from the free-throw line before a Shaw and-one put JSU ahead, 32-30. Another and-one for Shaw kept the Gamecocks in front of the Flames, 40-37 at the end of the third. With 12 seconds remaining in the game, Imari Martin scored a bucket inside to give JSU a three-point lead, 57-54. Three straight points from the Flames evened the score at 57 before Johnson's game-winner sent JSU to the ASUN Conference Championship Final with a 59-57 win.

JSU shot a stellar 48.1 percent from the field in the contest while holding the Flames to just 39.6 percent. The Gamecocks did not make a three-pointer in the game and were just 58.3 percent from the free-throw line. A major advantage for the Gamecocks came in turnovers as the team scored eight points from 12 Liberty turnovers. JSU committed just 10 turnovers which resulted in five points for Liberty.

With the win, JSU will travel to Fort Myers, Fla. to face the No. 1 overall seed and ASUN Regular Season Champions, No. 23 ranked Florida Gulf Coast, on Saturday, Mar. 12, at 6 p.m. CST. The Eagles are 28-2 on the year. JSU will look to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Division-I program history. The Gamecocks have reached the ASUN Conference Championship Final two times previously, doing so in 1997 and 1999.