JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Jacksonville Dolphins showed both grit and resilience as they found a 61-59 victory in a close battle against Sunbelt opponent Georgia Southern in Swisher Gymnasium Thursday Night.
In what was a very even match, Jacksonville, (2-1) and Georgia Southern, (2-2) went to the wire in a competitive brawl that came down to the final seconds and free-throws. The game was never out of reach for either team as there were 19 lead changes, 14 ties, and a near even 45-44 battle on the glass.
The Dolphins had four players in double figures on the night, despite missing two key starters. Edyn Battle achieved a season high 18 points, shooting a perfect 3-3 from the three-point line in the third quarter, leading the Dolphins to victory. Battle led the game in points while grabbing seven rebounds. Bre'Yanna Frazier had a solid showing, going 60% from the field and 33.3% from three, accounting for 10 of the Dolphin points and adding four steals and two assists. Frazier had her first start of the season and took advantage of the opportunity to contribute significantly to the Dolphin win. Saniyah Craig shot 50% from the field and 6-6 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points and seven rebounds. Jalisa Dunlap added 11 points, two rebounds, and two assists.
To open the night, Georgia Southern started the scoring with a putback layup. Freshman Craig responded with a rebound putback of her own. Craig then gave the Dolphins their first lead after drawing a foul and sinking two free throws, making the game 4-2 with 7:40 left in the quarter. Battle also hopped on the board early and put up a mid-range shot to stretch the lead to four. GSU then responded with a 4-0 run, tying the game at 6-6 with 4:40 left, leading to a timeout. Frazier, with her first start of the season, came out of the timeout electric, driving down a congested lane and converting an and-1, finishing with a free throw to make the score 9-6. Frazier then kept her team on a roll, stealing an Eagles pass and taking it coast to coast to stretch the JU lead to 11-8 with 2:19 left in the first. Dunlap then gained an advantage over a Southern defender to lay in a heavily contested layup, making the score 13-12 by the end of the first.
The second quarter started as a low scoring affair, with 10 points from JU and 12 from GSU. Both teams came out strong on the defensive end, forcing each other to look for tough scoring opportunities. Asiana Britt opened the quarter with a scoring play to set the JU lead to two, 14-12. The two universities then traded buckets, leading to an 18-17 GSU lead with 5:00 left in the quarter. The Dolphins looked for opportunities to pull away before the first media timeout, but the Eagles defense stood strong. After the timeout, Jalisa Dunlap had enough with the scoring delay and emphatically led the Dolphins in a quick 4-0 run to make the score 24-23 Southern as the quarter came to an end. By halftime, the game had seen eight lead changes and five ties.
The majority of the third quarter saw both offenses warm up considerably. Within the first five minutes, both sides surpassed their total second-quarter scoring. To open the quarter, Dunlap snuck in another bucket to give the Dolphins a 24-23 lead. Frazier, not cooling off, looked to keep her scoring going and, with a heat-check three-pointer, stretched the JU lead to four. Battle then followed with a three to create an 8-2 run by the Dolphins, making the score 31-26. Georgia Southern answered back with a long ball to shrink the JU lead to 31-29 with 7:17 left in the third quarter. Eventually, GSU tied the game at 31-31, but Battle, with her second three-pointer in the quarter, regained a Dolphin lead of 34-31. As the quarter progressed, the Eagles rewrote the score by the media timeout to a 37-34 lead with 4:17 left. After the media timeout, Kyshonna Brown and Battle together went on a quick 5-0 run, with Battle making her third three-pointer in a row of the quarter to tie the game 39-39. After Southern responded, Battle again made her way to an old-fashioned three-point play to give JU a lead of 42-41 with 2:12 remaining. Reaching 14 lead changes with 1:00 left, Kyshonna Brown drained a trey to give the Green and White a one-point lead. By the end of the quarter, the score was tied again, making it the ninth tie of the evening.
Battle opened the fourth quarter still hot, attacking a set Georgia Southern defense and finishing. After a 4-0 run by Southern, Freshman Craig answered with two free throws to make the score an even 49-49. Battle could just not be stopped as she continued to lead her team, scoring her 18th point with 5:30 left in the game to give JU a small one-point lead of 52-51. A trade-off of points persisted, and another tie game settled in as the scoreboard reached -2:15 with a count of 55-55. Frazier and Craig connected in a perfect play to gain a two-point lead with 1:31 remaining. Dunlap then found her way to the free-throw line, after an Eagles score that made it a 58-57 Eagles lead and sunk both to give the Dolphins a 60-57 advantage with 47 seconds left. The remainder was a battle from the charity stripe, with multiple Dolphins stepping up to the line to hold off Georgia Southern in a close win.
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UP NEXT
The Dolphins will travel to Tallahassee, Florida to take on FAMU Saturday, November 25. The match is set to begin at 2:00 p.m.
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