Jacksonville State takes return trip from Tech women
January 25, 2021

Jacksonville State takes return trip from Tech women

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – After a long week on the road, the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball team ran into a determined Jacksonville State squad on Monday night. The homestanding Gamecocks shot the ball at a scorching rate, and while Tech rallied back late, JSU came up on the winning end, topping Tech 69-58 at Pete Mathews Coliseum. While the Golden Eagles were able to frustrate the Gamecocks early, forcing a few JSU turnovers, once Jacksonville State squad settled down, they shot the ball at a red-hot rate, going 6-of-13 from the field in the first quarter and only improving from there. The Gamecocks were 8-for-15 in the second and 7-for-9 in the third. JSU finished the contest shooting 50.9 percent from the field, including 7-for-15 from 3-point range and 6-for-11 from the free-throw line.

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By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – After a long week on the road, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team ran into a determined Jacksonville State squad on Monday night. The homestanding Gamecocks shot the ball at a scorching rate, and while Tech rallied back late, JSU came up on the winning end, topping Tech 69-58 at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

While the Golden Eagles were able to frustrate the Gamecocks early, forcing a few JSU turnovers, once Jacksonville State squad settled down, they shot the ball at a red-hot rate, going 6-of-13 from the field in the first quarter and only improving from there. The Gamecocks were 8-for-15 in the second and 7-for-9 in the third. JSU finished the contest shooting 50.9 percent from the field, including 7-for-15 from 3-point range and 6-for-11 from the free-throw line.

JSU ended the game with five double-digit scorers, led by Taylor Hawks with 15. Leading scorer Yamia Johnson had 13 points, while Imari Martin, Keiara Griffin and Kennedy Gavin each for 10. Jessie Day led the Gamecocks with six rebounds, while Hawks also had a team-high four assists.

Tech, in contrast, just couldn't get shots to fall consistently. Starting with a 33-percent clip from the field, shooting 5-for-15, JSU took a 16-13 advantage at the end of the first 10 minutes. But the shooting just didn't catch on until much later as Tech was 2-for-9 (22.2 percent) in the second and 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) in the third.

From 3-point range, the Golden Eagles were 0-for-11 through the first three quarters, but Anna Jones was able to knock down two in the fourth as Tech ended the game 2-for-15 (13.3 percent) from 3-point range.

Tech's shooting did improve in the fourth, going 8-for-12 from the floor and outscoring JSU 23-16 in the final 10 minutes. The Golden Eagles were able to chip the deficit down from 18 points at the end of the third quarter, but couldn't cut it back within single digits before time ran out.

Kesha Brady led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 19 points, while Jada Guinn had 13 points, seven rebounds and a team-high four assists. Anna Jones chipped in with 10 points, while Mackenzie Coleman added six points along with her game-high 10 rebounds. Coleman scored her 1,000th career point in the process, becoming the third 1,000-point scorer on the 2020-21 Tech roster and 33rd in program history,

The Golden Eagles were able to win a couple of battles in the contest. Tech was able to get to the free-throw line 24 times, knocking down 20 for an 83.3 completion rate. The Golden Eagles also won the rebounding battle, collecting 32 to JSU's 30, including 11 offensive caroms, which led to 15 second-chance points.

Tech (7-5, 5-4 Ohio Valley Conference) returns home on Thursday and takes on Eastern Kentucky. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information