JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State women's basketball hits the road once again this week for a pair of ASUN Conference showdowns in the Volunteer State. The Gamecocks will play at Austin Peay at 5:30 p.m. Thursday before duking it out at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Lipscomb.
 
JSU (9-5, 2-1) saw their five-game winning streak come to an end in Thursday's 83-81 overtime loss to Lipscomb (9-6, 3-0). Fortunately, Rick Pietri's veteran squad rebounded with a dominant fourth period two days later, downing visiting Queens by 20 at Pete Mathews Coliseum. Now, Jax State gears up for their first full weekend of road action in league play.
 
Simply put, the Gamecocks could not get the stops when they needed to against the Bisons last week. Lipscomb scored 44 points in the second half in Jacksonville and never looked back, handing Jacksonville State its first overtime defeat since 2017-18. Saturday's 59-39 win over Queens saw a much more enthused effort down the stretch by the JSU defense, who held Queens to 32.0% shooting from the field in the game and allowed just one basket in the final period.
 
Austin Peay (7-6, 2-1) has faced several of the same opponents that the Gamecocks have early in the 2022-23 campaign. Chattanooga, who lost 59-51 versus JSU in late December, suffered a 58-53 setback against Austin Peay a month and a half earlier. Davidson cruised by the Governors, 62-41, in November's Hostilo Hoops Community Classic, just a couple weeks prior to handing Jax State its first loss at The Pete. In addition, both JSU and APSU made quick work of Queens. Therefore, with similar results against common opponents, one could expect a tight battle in Clarksville, Tenn.
 
The Governors are 2-1 in league play. After crushing the Royals three days prior, Austin Peay had a surprising 66-57 loss at Kennesaw State last Thursday. They rebounded at home with a 50-46 win over Stetson on Saturday afternoon, ensuring that both squads will enter with an above-.500 record.
 
Former Gamecock Yamia Johnson is Austin Peay's top performer. The 5-foot-11 guard who spent three years in Pietri's program is averaging a team-high 12.0 points per game on a 38.7% clip. Johnson is also second on the team with 5.1 rebounds per game and is third on the squad with 14 steals. Brittany Young's team has the nation's 37^th-best scoring defense (56.7 points allowed per game) and is 96^th in Division I with 18.31 turnovers forced per game.
 
As for Lipscomb, the Bisons handed Jacksonville State only its second defeat at home on the year in Thursday's marathon. Bella Vinson posted a career-high 28 points against JSU and followed that up with a 17-point, 5-rebound outing in Saturday's 69-63 road win at North Florida. For her efforts, the 6-foot-2 sophomore was named this week's ASUN Player of the Week. Lauren Sumski's squad is dominant defensively and has the fourth-best defensive three-point percentage mark (22.9%), is 18^th in defensive rebounds per game (30.4), and ranks 75^th in defensive field goal percentage (37.4%).
 
It was the Kennedy Gavin show last week for JSU women's basketball. The graduate forward averaged 20.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in Jax State's first week of conference action and scored a career-high 23 points in Thursday's overtime defeat. With another productive week, Gavin continues to rise up the team leaderboard and is now third with 10.8 points per game. The Petal, Miss., native leads the program with 7.8 rebounds per game. JSU's leading scorers are Shawnta Shaw (12.2 points per game) and Imari Martin (11.0 points per game). Shaw also leads the team with 29 steals.
 
The key to a hot start for the Gamecocks has been taking care of the ball and applying pressure defensively. JSU is fifth in the nation in turnovers per game (11.7) and tenth in defensive three-point percentage (24.1%). By allowing just 54.2 points per game Jacksonville State ranks 15^th in scoring defense, and their turnover margin of +5.93 is 17^th in all of Division I. Jax State is 64^th in scoring margin (+11.6 points per game), 70^th in fouls per game (15.1), and 81^st in defensive field goal percentage (37.5%).
 
JSU is 5-4 all-time versus Lipscomb, having won four of the last five meetings. The Gamecocks are 12-18 against Austin Peay, however, and split their final two matchups as OVC foes in 2020-21. Austin Peay won 61-51 in Clarksville in January 2021 before Jacksonville State handed the Governors a 60-44 loss at The Pete a month later.
 
Thursday's game at Winfield Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tenn., will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Saturday's game in Nashville against Lipscomb will start at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Both contests will be broadcast on ESPN+ and Logan Maddox will cover the matchups on the Gamecock Sports Network.
 
Links to follow along with live stats, watch, or listen to the games will be provided at JSUGamecockSports.com. Score updates and highlights will be posted on JSU women's basketball's Twitter account (@JSUGamecocksWBB). 
 
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, be sure to follow their Facebook (Jacksonville State University Women's Basketball), Twitter (@JSUGamecocksWBB), and Instagram (@JSUGamecocksWBB) accounts.