MARIETTA, Ga. – The Jacksonville University women's basketball team suited up for the play-in game of the 2021 ASUN Conference Women's Basketball Championship Wednesday, entering the event as the nine seed and taking on eighth-seeded Kennesaw State. The Dolphins (4-16, 1-13) once again led for most of the contest and managed to withstand a fourth-quarter comeback attempt by the Owls (7-12, 2-11), winning by a final score of 55-52.
 
"We got the win today and were able to finish the game out today to survive and advance to tomorrow," said head coach Darnell Haney. "We got some big games from Da'Nasia (Shaw), MaKayla (Edwards) and DeShari (Graham) today. MaKayla has really been playing well of late and that continued into today's game, with her being a facilitator on offense and helping us on defense. DeShari got into some early foul trouble but really turned things up in the second half and helped us get set on defense and achieve things we had in our game plan. And then getting Da'Nasia back, having her start to get back to form, that's just another piece that we are able to incorporate into our offense and what she's been able to do these last few games has been vital for us."
 
"We were able to hit some big free throws late, that's something we worked on a lot in practice this week, especially with Da'Nasia since we knew it might come down to that kind of situation toward the end of the game. All around, I am incredibly proud of this effort by this group, big team win and now we get to look forward to FGCU tomorrow."
 
The Owls scored the first four points of the afternoon before Khalela Hayes got the Dolphins on the board with a second chance opportunity at 8:21. DeShari Graham tied things at four with a driving layup in transition before a KSU three put them back ahead.  Jacksonville followed with a 6-2 run started by Da'Nasia Shaw to take their first lead of the day at 10-9. After the two teams exchanged free throws with the Owls coming out ahead, MaKayla Edwards drained a corner three with 33 seconds left in the quarter to give the Dolphins a 15-13 edge after 10 minutes.
 
Jacksonville opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run to lead by as much as nine, started on a driving layup by Shaw that also saw Edwards connect on another three-pointer. Kennesaw State broke things up with a 6-0 run of their own to get within three before Tamia Stallings scored on a wide-open layup to make it a five-point game at 26-21. After the Owls went 1-2 from the charity stripe with a little over two minutes remaining, Ashley Malone connected on a three ball from Alexis Pierce to push the lead to 29-22. Pierce scored two possessions later on a fast break layup to once more make it a nine-point game, but the Owls hit a last-second layup to make it 31-24 heading into the half.
 
The Dolphins continued to lead into the third quarter until about the six-minute mark, when the Owls jumped back in front on the strength of an 11-0 run to make it 37-36. JU wouldn't trail for long though, rattling off eight-straight to go back in front 44-37 at 3:48. The two teams exchanged jumpers over the remaining balance of the period, heading to the forth quarter with Jacksonville leading 46-41.
 
Pace of play slowed over the final 10 minutes of action, with the Owls trying to limit Jacksonville possessions while trying to erase the Dolphins' lead. The Owls hit a pair of jumpers to get within a point at 46-45 but a jumper in the paint from Graham pushed the lead back to three. Pierce knocked down a clutch three-pointer with about four minutes to go to make it 51-46, but Kennesaw State would not go quietly, stringing together a 6-0 run to lead 52-51 with 1:18 to go. Rachel scored the go-ahead basket with 29 seconds left, cleaning up a miss from Edwards to make it 53-52. The Owls had an opportunity to retake the lead on their next possession, but the shot didn't fall, forcing KSU to try to extend the game by fouling JU. Shaw went to line with three seconds to go, and knocked down both attempts to seal the 55-52 win.
 
Shaw and Edwards both finished the game with 12 points and six boards for Jacksonville, while Graham turned in an 11-point performance. Stallings and Rachel each scored four point and proved to be a force inside defensively for JU, as the pair combined for 15 rebounds in game, one-third of the Dolphins' total for the game.
 
Jacksonville will head the KSU Convocation center tomorrow afternoon, in a matchup with top-seeded FGCU in a contest scheduled for 2 PM.