JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State avenged last season's overtime loss to rival UAB on Wednesday night in a 68-56 win over the Blazers inside the Pete Mathews Coliseum. The Gamecocks, now 3-1, handed UAB their first loss of the season to make them 3-1 as well.
 
Jax State rode the hot hands of Samiya Steele and Asia Barclay, particularly late in the tightly contested game. Steele poured in her 16 on 7-11 shooting from the field and a made three-pointer. Barclay scored 12 of her 16 in the fourth quarter and only missed one of her nine shot attempts. Barclay also grabbed five rebounds, while Steele had three boards and three assists.
 
"This is a big win for us," head coach Rick Pietri said. "For us to beat a team in the American Conference, for us to beat a program, the UAB program's been a solid program for over a decade, for us to be able to win it and win it the way we did, I think it speaks volumes for our kids. Particularly for our returning players, we had a number of players here who played in that game we played against them last year that we lost in overtime, so I feel good for them that they were able to play these same guys and leave with smiles on their faces instead of disappointment this time."
 
As a team, the Gamecocks shot 45.3% from the field but made only four of their 19 attempts from the arc. Jax State had 37 rebounds, 15 assists, and forced the Blazers into 19 turnovers. One of the more prevalent stats was Jax State's dominance inside the paint as the Gamecocks outscored UAB 44-30 down low.
 
Along with Barclay and Steele's efforts, freshman Kyera Thornsbury had a nice night scoring eight points on 3-4 from the field and 2-2 from free throw. Bre'Anna Rhodes added five points and led the Gamecocks in rebounds with 10. Clara Gonzalez Planella also had an efficient game scoring nine points on 4-5 from the field and sinking her one three-point attempt.
 
"I think Asia Barclay and Samiya Steele both played their best games in Jacksonville State uniforms tonight," Pietri added. "Specifically in the fourth quarter, Asia just finished everything, she was 8-9 from the field and at least three of those were 16, 17-foot jump shots. She was, in the fourth quarter, she finished for us, and, frankly, Samiya ran the team ran the team for us in the fourth quarter. Both of those kids just were able to lift our team up and put us in a position to win this game."
 
The Game was tight throughout until the Gamecocks were able to grab their largest lead of the night, 13, a little over midway through the fourth quarter. UAB sank a three to cut it to 10 late, before Thornsbury drove to the basket for a layup to grant the Gamecocks the 12-point lead that would hold until the final buzzer.
 
At the end of the first, Jax State trailed the Blazers 16-15. The Gamecocks and Blazers matched one another in field goal attempts making 6-14. The difference came in threes as UAB knocked in three of nine attempts while Jax State made two of four.
 
Jax State turned the tables in the second quarter to take a one point 33-32 into the halftime break. Jax State shot 35.3% from the field and made 2-8 from three. UAB again made 6-14 shots, but they were not able to make a three-point attempt the quarter.
 
After the third, Jax State continued to maintain a one-point lead over the Blazers. The Gamecocks took a 50-49 advantage into the final 10 minutes of regulation thanks to making 47.1% of their field goal attempts. The Gamecocks' defense stepped up in the second half holding UAB to 35.3% from the field and 16.7% from three.
 
The trends continued in the fourth as Jax State held the Blazers to 20% shooting from both the field and three-point range. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks' offense was humming as they made 56.3% of their field goals in the final quarter of action.
 
Jax State moves on to face Sewanee at home on Monday, Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m. The game will be streaming on ESPN+, live stats will be available at JaxStateSports.com, and tickets will be available at JaxStateSports.com as well.
 
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