EL PASO, Texas – After posting arguably their biggest win of the season by toppling second-place Florida International at home on Saturday, Jacksonville State's women's basketball squad is set to begin the first leg of this weekend's road trip. The Gamecocks finish their regular season series with UTEP on Thursday night with an 8 p.m. CT showdown in the Sun City.
 
"With two weeks remaining in the regular season, I just want to see an appropriate amount of urgency and desperation," head coach Rick Pietri said. "UTEP is a team we beat on our home floor, but they have had high levels of success on their own home court. We're going to have to find a way to unseat them in a place where they've had a lot of success."
 
Jax State (10-15, 5-8) used a big second half to pull away from FIU in their last matchup. The two teams entered the locker rooms tied at 33, but five third quarter treys from Rachel Johnson put the Red-and-White ahead for good. Her efforts massively helped guide the team to 47 second-half points and a dominant showing in an 80-63 victory over the Panthers. With that win in the rearview, though, Pietri's bunch will try for just their third road win of 2023-24 as they get set to take on UTEP (10-16, 5-8).
 
Bre'Anna Rhodes, who had 16 points and eight rebounds on Saturday, remains the team's leader in scoring (8.2 points per game) and rebounding (4.8 rebounds per game). Kristol Ayson (7.9 ppg) and Mya Barnes (6.4 ppg) are just behind her on offense and Barnes (4.3 rpg) and Asia Barclay (4.3 rpg) narrowly trail her in crashing the boards.
 
The Gamecocks claimed a win in the first meeting between the two sides earlier this season. An all-around solid performance helped Jacksonville State to a 70-62 win at Pete Mathews Coliseum back on Feb. 1. Barnes had a career-best 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting with five three-pointers while Madison McCoy had a career-high 15 points, going 7-of-12 from the field.
 
That early-February setback in the Yellowhammer State started a three-game losing skid for the Miners. UTEP went on to fall at Liberty, 87-68, and at New Mexico State, 66-59, in their next two games. They topped Western Kentucky at home on Feb. 15 and dropped back-to-back showdowns versus Middle Tennessee and Louisiana Tech before bouncing back with an 82-66 triumph at Sam Houston last weekend.
 
Jane Asinde, the defending Conference USA Player of the Week, paces UTEP's scoring (16.2 ppg) and rebounding (9.4 ppg) efforts. She ended up with a 21-point, 16-rebound double-double in the first pairing in Jacksonville. Erin Wilson has also shined for the Miners and averages 12.2 ppg and 8.2 rpg.
 
"Asinde is clearly an All-Conference player," Pietri said. "She had a nice game against us here. We'll have to manage her, but they've also got some other very good pieces both inside and out that can create problems. They give multiple defensive looks, too, so we'll have to be able to decipher what they're doing on defense and attack it accordingly."
 
Wednesday's game will be covered on ESPN+ and Logan Maddox will have the call on the Gamecock Sports Network. Links to watch, listen, or follow along with live stats 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).
 
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