JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State women's basketball dropped a back-and-forth affair on Tuesday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum. Visiting UT Arlington recaptured the lead late and held on, handing the Gamecocks a 69-64 setback in their penultimate non-conference showdown.
"Tonight was a major disappointment," head coach
Rick Pietri said. "(UTA) is a very talented team that is figuring it out and, unfortunately, we weren't able to respond when we needed to. It's a very disappointing way to go into the holiday, but we just have to move onto the next one."
Fresh off a win at Sam Houston, UT Arlington (3-8) dominated the early stages of Tuesday's showdown in Jacksonville. An 8-0 scoring run handed the visitors all the momentum and a 10-point period by 6-foot-2 forward Adela Valkova ensured a 23-14 advantage through one. A tough showing by the Gamecocks (4-7) in the second interval followed. The Red-and-White pieced together solid possessions to cut the deficit to one and entered the locker rooms down just seven, 35-28.
The third was, for the most part, controlled by the Red-and-White. The offense erupted for 21 points on 6-of-14 (42.9%) shooting and ended the period on an 8-0 spurt to tie it at 49-all. A
Shaquice May three-pointer to open the fourth gave Jax State its first lead since the opening frame, but their advantage was short lived. UT Arlington pulled away with an 8-of-11 (72.7%) clip in the final stanza and added some key buckets late in the five-point win.
Kristol Ayson finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting and
Jaz Spencer added 11 points and three treys.
Bre'Anna Rhodes had a nine-point, seven-rebound performance and
Rachel Johnson ended up with eight points and six boards.
The Gamecocks were out-shot 48.3% to 39.0%, but the difference was turnovers. The Lady Mavericks scored 17 points off 15 Jacksonville State turnovers, and the home team was only able to muster six points off 11 UTA turnovers.
Jax State will have ten days to regroup before its next contest. The Gamecocks will welcome South Carolina State to Pete Mathews Coliseum on Fri., Dec. 29, in their final non-conference pairing of the season. That matchup will tip-off at 6:30 p.m. in Jacksonville and will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the Gamecock Sports Network.
Links to listen, watch, or follow along with live stats for that game will be provided at JaxStateSports.com. In addition, score updates will be posted on Jax State Women's Basketball's X account (@JaxStateWBB).
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their Facebook (Jacksonville State Women's Basketball), Instagram (@JaxStateWBB), and X (@JaxStateWBB) accounts.
