Jax State Ready for Senior Day Showdown with FGCU - Jacksonville State University Athletics

JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State women's basketball will play arguably their toughest game of the season in Saturday's Senior Day matchup versus 24^th-ranked Florida Gulf Coast. The Gamecocks will try to score an upset against one of the hottest offenses in the nation and send their five seniors out on a winning note.

Saturday's test at Pete Mathews Coliseum will begin at 4 p.m. Kennedy Gavin, Imari Martin, Shawnta Shaw, NeKiyah Thompson, and Kyra Williams will be honored prior to the final home game of the year for Jax State (15-12, 8-8).

The Gamecocks survived a scare against visiting Stetson on Thursday night in Calhoun County. A 13-point lead entering the final stanza quickly vanished, but fortunately Rick Pietri's squad produced just enough down the stretch to post a 69-62 triumph. Williams had a career-high 25 points in her next-to-last game at The Pete. Now, Williams and her four fellow seniors will try for a humongous victory over the defending ASUN champion Eagles (27-3, 15-1).

Florida Gulf Coast was picked to win the league in the preseason and has gone wire-to-wire as the top squad in the conference standings. They earned non-conference victories over the likes of Florida International, Hawaii, and San Diego, played competitively for much of the contest in losses to Liberty (88-78, OT), Duke (71-48), and then-no. 2 Stanford (93-69), and have rolled through ASUN play nearly unscathed. 11 of the Eagles' 15 league victories have been decided by 20-plus points.

Tishara Morehouse, the ASUN's Preseason Player of the Year, leads FGCU with 16.1 points per game and has a team-high 60 steals. She's far from their only threat, though. Sha Carter is second in scoring (13.6 points per game) and is the top rebounder (5.8 per contest) while newcomer Alyza Winston is also averaging double figures with 13.3 points per game.

The Eagles have the nation's best marks in three-point attempts (31.7) and three-pointers made (11.9) per game. In addition, FGCU is third nationally in scoring margin (+21.6), sixth in field goal percentage (47.7%) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.44), ninth in assists per game (18.1), 15^th in three-point percentage (37.4%), 16^th in scoring offense (78.5 points per game), and 28^th in scoring defense (78.5 points allowed per game).

FGCU claimed wins in both of last year's meetings. They handed Jacksonville State a 66-44 setback at The Pete in late January, then downed the Gamecocks 69-54 in Fort Myers, Fla., in the ASUN Tournament Final on March 12, 2022.

Saturday's game at Pete Mathews Coliseum will tip-off at 6 p.m. Mickey Shadrix and Butch Barker will broadcast the game on ESPN+ and Logan Maddox will have the call on the Gamecock Sports Network.

Links to follow along with live stats, watch, or listen to the game 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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kennedy Gavin

Imari Martin

Shawnta Shaw

NeKiyah Thompson

Kyra Williams

Footer