JACKSONVILLE – Despite having a strong performance from
Keiara Griffin, who finished with a double-double, Jacksonville State women's basketball suffered a 64-58 setback in Saturday afternoon's ASUN Conference showdown against Eastern Kentucky. Jax State simply could not find the net in a tight loss against an evenly matched Colonel squad.
Griffin had a team-high 12 points and 11 rebounds. It marked the first double-double of the season for the junior forward from Birmingham and the sixth of her career. Sadly, it was not enough in a tough defeat at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
The Gamecock (13-11, 6-7) offense did not shoot well early on. Jax State converted just six field goals in the first half and went 1-of-15 from deep. Although they converted 10 free throws and had more rebounds, points off turnovers, bench points, and second-chance points, Jacksonville State's shooting woes were too much as EKU (14-12, 7-6) went into the locker rooms leading 31-23.
Pietri's team came out ready to shoot, nailing a trio of treys to open the second half. Unfortunately, Eastern Kentucky manufactured a response for every run that Jax State had. The Colonels continued to produce thanks to redshirt senior Antwainette Walker who scored 13 points in the interval. As a result, their lead grew to 13 at the end of the three. Jacksonville State tried to make things interesting down the stretch, cutting it to as little as a five-point game, but could not climb back from a double-digit deficit and fell 64-58 at The Pete.
Kennedy Gavin scored in double figures once again, finishing with ten points and eight rebounds.
Madison McCoy and
Kyra Williams added nine points each.
Jacksonville State out-rebounded Eastern Kentucky 49-40 and ended up with greater outputs in points off turnovers (15 versus EKU's seven), bench points (21-13), points in the paint (30-26), and second-chance points (6-2). However, the Colonels shot 39% from the field and 40% from deep, much better than Jax State's marks of 30% and 18%.
Jacksonville State returns to action next week in a pair of ASUN Conference tests on the road. The Gamecocks head to Jacksonville, Fla., on Thursday evening for a 6 p.m. contest at North Florida before tangling with Jacksonville at 12 p.m. Saturday.
Links to follow along with live stats, watch, or listen to both games will be provided at JSUGamecockSports.com. Score updates and highlights will be posted on JSU women's basketball's Twitter account (@JaxStateWBB).
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, be sure to follow their Facebook (Jacksonville State University Women's Basketball), Twitter (@JaxStateWBB), and Instagram (@JaxStateWBB) accounts.
