JACKSONVILLE – Career nights by Mya Barnes and Madison McCoy highlighted a 70-62 victory over UTEP for Jacksonville State women's basketball on Thursday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum. The two combined for over half of the Gamecocks' scoring as they used a four-quarter effort to down a talented Miners squad. 
 
"Coming off what happened to us Saturday, this was a big test for us to see what kind of resiliency we had," head coach Rick Pietri said. "(UTEP) is a competent team with good players and a good coach, and we competed our behinds off. We talked about the fact that we had to want it more than they did to have a chance to win, and I really think we wanted it more than they did tonight."
 
The Gamecocks (7-12, 2-5) benefited from solid starts by a pair of usual contributors. McCoy scored the team's first seven points and six more from Brooklyn McDaniel guided Jax State to as much as an eight-point lead in the opening interval. UTEP (8-12, 3-4) clawed back towards the end of the first, making it a 17-15 game going into the second period, and reclaimed the lead shortly thereafter. A resilient Jax State group continued to battle, however, taking advantage of several Miner turnovers. Five more field goals in the second quarter helped the home team carry a 30-26 advantage to halftime.
 
Both offenses took a large step forward in the third period. Just as it seemed the Miners would jump on top, though, Barnes woke up. The junior from Montgomery, who did not score in the first half, sank three treys and totaled 16 points in the frame, securing a 52-43 lead through three. UTEP pressing led to success in the final stanza, getting the Gamecock offense out of rhythm and allowing them to climb back into the game. Fortunately, Jax State was able to break that press once the score was deadlocked, and they found consistent points via free throw shooting to extend the lead and hang on for a tight win. 
 
Barnes and McCoy scored career highs of 21 and 15 points respectively in the victory. Kristol Ayson and McDaniel added ten points each and Elsie Harris finished with seven points and three boards.
 
"(Barnes) was huge," Pietri said. "They left her open and she made the open shots. Between (Barnes and McCoy), our four position went off in this game. We'll take the points wherever they come, but the thing that I did like is that I was able to survive. They made the run at us to tie it and we got some things corrected in the press offense, and were able to make enough plays on the offensive end to hold on and win."
 
The Miners out-rebounded Jacksonville State 40-33, but they were forced into 19 turnovers and made just one three-pointer. UTEP also went just 9-of-22 (40.9%) from the charity stripe. The Red-and-White were 24-of-55 (43.6%) from the field and converted seven threes at The Pete. 
 
"It feels really good, I'm not going to lie to you," Pietri said. "I'm grateful that our kids were able to bring some fight with them today, and our kids deserve it."
 
Jax State remains home on Saturday to play host to New Mexico State. That matchup in Jacksonville will tip-off at 2:30 p.m. 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 and highlights 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.