JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sophomore Destiny Marshall posted a career-high 28 points to help lead the Jacksonville University women's basketball team to its first win in the ASUN Conference this season, with an 88-67 victory over NJIT, Monday evening at Historic Swisher Gymnasium.

"Over the course of the game we did what we had to do to win. Our defensive effort was there, but I don't think we were locked in the way we needed to be. We have to get our young kids to lock in more defensively and really hone in on that and work on that piece so that we can be the team we can be," stated head coach Darnell Haney following the game.

The Dolphins (9-7, 1-2 ASUN) saw several outstanding performances, including a career-high 28 points on 12-of-13 shooting from sophomore guard Destiny Marshall, as well as a 12-point, 7-assist outing from senior Kiara Meeks. Freshman Da'Nasia Shaw added 12 points – all from beyond the arc – along with eight points, five rebounds, and five steals from redshirt-senior Shakayla Nevitt. For her efforts, Meeks earned Hodges Mazda Player of the Game.
 

Added Haney, "We got a great outing from Kiara Meeks tonight – she did a really good job of running the team. An awesome outing from Destiny Marshall in limited minutes, she got in foul trouble early. Da'Nasia Shaw did a great job defensively, she was in the right spots and did what she had to do on defense. Shakayla Nevitt did what she does leading us. Some shots didn't fall for her, but she did a good job attacking."

With both teams pushing the pace and trading baskets to open the game, the Dolphins put on a half-court press to take a four-point lead, 14-10, with 4:04 on the clock. A three-pointer from senior Kiara Meeks with 44 seconds left moved Jacksonville ahead, 19-16 at the end of the quarter.

A 6-0 run in the second extended JU's lead to 27-21, but the Highlanders (3-13, 0-3 ASUN) found a way to counter with a seven-point run of their own to take a slight advantage, 28-27, midway through the quarter. Not to be deterred, Jacksonville put away the last three baskets of the period – including a buzzer-beating layup from freshman Shekinah Rachel – to hold a 39-34 lead at the break.

Highlighted by an eight-point run with senior Alexis Burns (7:25), Shaw (6:40), and Marshall (5:40) all scoring, the Dolphins outpaced the Highlanders in the third, 64-49.

Using a 10-0 run spanning the end of the third quarter and into the fourth, Jacksonville surged to its largest lead of the game, 82-59, with 3:34 remaining in the game. Back-to-back three pointers from Shaw (2:17, 1:43) kept the Dolphins' momentum high through the final minutes as the Dolphins downed the Highlanders, 88-67, for their first win in the ASUN this season.

Noting Burns' five-point, five-rebound performance, Haney stated, "Alexis Burns, steady eddy, she does the things that don't show up on the stat sheet – coming up with big rebounds, making big stops, understanding, talking to her teammates and making sure they understand. [Freshman] Erin Wilson gave us great minutes energy-wise. It's tough coming off the road. Liberty was a tough road game, so I'm proud of them for being able to run it over so quickly and take care of business. Now we rest, get better, and prepare for Stetson coming up."

The visitors were led by a pair of 14-point performances from Milena Bajic and Danielle Tunstall, while Bajic brought down a team-high eight boards in the effort.

The Dolphins return to action on Saturday, Jan. 18 when they play host to Stetson at 1 p.m.