LYNCHBURG, VA. – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team lost their second straight game away from Jacksonville at Liberty Saturday afternoon in a 62-53. The Gamecocks got down as much as 20 in the third quarter but battled back late in that same quarter and throughout the fourth.
With the win Liberty improves to 15-5 overall and 8-1 in CUSA play, while Jax State falls to 9-11 and 3-6 in league action.
Mya Barnes led the way in points and rebounds for the Gamecocks with 15 points and six boards. Barnes also added a steal, an assist, and was 6-11 from the field.
Clara Gonzalez Planella and
Bre'Anna Rhodes joined Barnes in double-figures. Planella followed Barnes closely with 14 points. She also had two assists and four rebounds. Rhodes had 10 points and three rebounds.
Elsie Harris had the most assists for the Red-and-White with six, while
Asia Barclay had the second highest number of rebounds with five.
Liberty jumped on the Gamecocks early quickly capturing an 11-4 lead by the halfway point of the first period. One of Harris's assists came thanks to a pass to Planella sinking a jump shot to cut the Flames' advantage to two with a little over two minutes left in the opening quarter. Liberty scored two more times to make it 21-15 by the end of the first.
The Gamecocks fell in a hole after an 11-4 run by the Flames put them up 32 -19 with 3:51 on the clock in the second quarter. Late in the second,
Valentina Saric knocked down a three to make it 35-22 with 2:00 minutes before the halftime break. Barnes made a three to cut it to 10 before a layup fell for Liberty with only nine ticks left on the clock in the first half.
Liberty got up as much as 20 points in the third quarter, but a made jumper by Rhodes sparked an 11-0 run by the Gamecocks to close out the third quarter. The Red-and-White cut Liberty's lead to seven after Barnes made a three with 1:05 in the period to make it a 47-40 game as the teams headed into the fourth quarter.
Planella sank a pair of free throws to get the Gamecocks within four points with 7:34 left in the game, until Liberty drilled a three to push the Flames lead to seven with 6:13 left and forcing a Jax State timeout. Barclay made a jump shot with 4:08 left in regulation to make it 54-51 Flames. Harris then drove inside for a layup to cut Jax State's deficit to one with 2:56 left. After a pair of Liberty makes, the Flames got back up seven and would not let Jax State get any closer as the game inched to a close.
Jax State will now head to Middle Tennessee on Thursday, Feb. 6, to take on the Blue Raiders for a 6:30 p.m. start before concluding their four-game road swing at Western Kentucky on Saturday, Feb. 8. The game against the Hilltoppers is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their Facebook (Jacksonville State Women's Basketball), Instagram (@JaxStateWBB), and X (@JaxStateWBB) accounts.
