JACKSONVILLE – Kyra Williams and Kennedy Gavin combined to score 41 points in Saturday's 59-39 triumph over Queens at Pete Mathews Coliseum. Their unreal offensive performances, paired with a similarly dominant showing by the defense late in the game, handed Jacksonville State women's basketball their second league win of the season. 
 
Williams posted a career-best 22 points and added three rebounds, two blocks, and a steal in the win. Gavin, who scored a career-high 23 points against Lipscomb on Thursday, ended up with a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double. Both standouts were crucial to a big bounce-back win at home. 
 
Kennedy Gavin carried over her impressive finish against Lipscomb with a productive start. The Petal, Miss., native scored six points in the opening period, including a 4-for-4 mark from the charity stripe, to will the Gamecocks (9-5, 2-1) to a 15-10 advantage. After going just 1-for-13 from the perimeter on Thursday, Jax State hit two long balls in the first ten minutes on Saturday afternoon. 
 
Queens' (5-9, 0-3) defense was able to minimize scoring opportunities for JSU in the second period. The Royals forced six turnovers in the interval by the Gamecocks and held Jacksonville State to just five made shots. Kyra Williams' seven points and six more from Gavin were all Pietri's team could muster before halftime, but fortunately the Jax State defense allowed a shooting percentage of just 28.6% in the first 20 minutes and toted a 28-17 advantage into halftime.
 
"They play with a lot of physical aggressiveness and toughness, and we just didn't have the right focus on offense," Jacksonville State head coach Rick Pietri said after the win. "I thought our defensive focus was pretty good, I just think our offensive focus was off. We had mishandles, fumbles, travels; these aren't things that we typically do with this frequency. A lot of that had to do with the fact that we didn't bring into this game the right energy.
 
"Because of the culture that we have defensively, I think sometimes they can go off instinct defensively and still hold the fort down," Pietri said. "But even in our full-court defensive work, we were better in the last five minutes than we were the first 35. I think it simply had to do with focus and intent."
 
The Royals attempted to come back with a spirited third-quarter effort. After converting just eight field goals in the first half, Queens made seven shots in the third and finished with 19 points. Thankfully, an evenly distributed attack by the Gamecocks saw them score 15 more to control a 43-36 lead going into the final period. 
 
The fourth period belonged to the Gamecocks. Jacksonville State outscored Queens 16-3 in the last ten minutes and surrendered just a single basket to the Royals. Williams heated up again in the final stanza, adding eight points in crunch time. In addition, the smothering defense showcased in the fourth quarter solidified a 20-point victory in what was JSU's first home conference win of 2022-23. 
 
Aside from Williams and Gavin, no other Gamecocks made more than two shots in Saturday night's contest. Shawnta Shaw, who added four points, had game-highs with five assists and three steals. Keiara Griffin did not score but was second on the team with six rebounds. 
 
JSU held Queens to 16-of-50 from the field (32.0%) and just 2-of-15 (13.3%) from long range. Jax State had 21 points off turnovers and 28 points in the paint and outscored the Royals 11-2 on second chance opportunities. Furthermore, the Gamecocks out-rebounded QU 43-35 and forced 24 turnovers in the win. 
 
Jacksonville State women's basketball travels to the Volunteer State next week for a pair of ASUN Conference matchups. Jax State heads to Clarksville, Tenn., for a bout with Austin Peay at 5:30 p.m. next Thursday. Their next game will be in Nashville on Saturday, as JSU will face Lipscomb at 1:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the Gamecock Sports Network. 
 
"I think (the coaching staff) will have (the team's) attention on Thursday when we go to Austin Peay," Pietri said. "We're both 2-1, so the outcome of that game matters. It's our only meeting, so in a tie breaker scenario, the winner of this game would get it."

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