JACKSONVILLE – Jax State women's basketball suffered their fifth consecutive loss Thursday night against Sam Houston. The 56-49 loss was the first game at the Pete Mathews Coliseum in two weeks for the Gamecocks and snapped a two-game home winning streak.
Jax State falls to 9-14 overall and 3-9 in league play. On the other hand, Sam Houston moves to 11-11 overall and 4-8 in conference action.
Mya Barnes was the lone Jax State player to reach double digits against the Bearkats. She scored 12 points on 50% shooting from the field and knocked down two threes.
Asia Barclay led the squad in rebounds with seven. She also added six points.
Elsie Harris led the Gamecocks in assists with four and was the team's second leading scorer with nine points.
The Bearkats got out to a 7-4 advantage by the media timeout in the first after
Maria Sanchez Ponce scored the opening points of the game on a layup early. Barclay made a layup with just under to make it 11-6 Bearkats, but the Gamecocks went scoreless for the rest of the quarter. Meanwhile, 7-0 run to close out the first to lead 18-6 after the opening 10 minutes.
Early in the second, Sam Houston got up as much as 16 before a 13-0 run by the Gamecocks cut it to 22-19 with 3:32 left in the first half. Barnes hit a three with 1:24 left in the second to make it a 26-24 Sam Houston lead with 1:24 left in the period. Back-to-back buckets before the end of the first half put the Bearkats ahead 30-24 heading into halftime.
Jax State took their first lead since the opening basket with 5:46 in the third thanks to a Barclay jump shot that put the Gamecocks ahead 37-36.
Shaquice May drilled a three with 3:31 in the third to give Jax State a 40-36 advantage. With 2:11 in the third remaining,
Valentina Saric knocked down a three to give Jax State a 43-38 lead. The five-point advantage was the most the Gamecocks ever led by in the contest. By the end of the third, however, Sam Houston got back in front 44-43 as the teams headed to the final 10 minutes of play.
In the fourth, Jax State got within in two again thanks to a Ponce layup with 7:56 left in the game. A short 5-0 run by Sam Houston put them back up by seven nearly midway through the fourth. Jax State cut it four with under four minutes to play before a three by Sam Houston with 3:05 left put them ahead 56-49. Both teams went scoreless in the final three minutes of game time.
Jax State will now take on Louisiana Tech Saturday at 2:30 p.m. inside the Pete Mathews Coliseum. The game will be another pink out, so fans are encouraged to wear pink when attending. ESPN+ will be streaming the game, live stats will be available at JaxStateSports.com, and tickets can be found on JaxStateSports.com as well.
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their Facebook (Jacksonville State Women's Basketball), Instagram (@JaxStateWBB), and X (@JaxStateWBB) accounts.
