The Jacksonville women's basketball team defeated the Florida International Panthers 72-54 Wednesday night at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami, Florida.
The Dolphins (2-1) were led by senior guard Edyn Battle, who scored all 19 of her points in the second half. Jacksonville won decisively in the paint (42-30) and on the glass (45-38) en route to its first road victory of the season.
The physical first half saw up-tempo and aggressive basketball from both sides. Graduate student forward Makayla Edwards led Jacksonville with 11 first-half points and set the tone with her aggressive play in the paint. The Dolphins scored 16 of their first half points inside.
Jacksonville trailed after the first quarter, but a strong defensive performance allowed the Dolphins to pull in front in the second quarter. JU forced 17 FIU turnovers in the first half and scored 17 points off of Panther giveaways.
The Dolphins ended the first half on a 15-2 run and scored the last seven points of the opening half. After trailing by three in the first quarter, Jacksonville led by eight at the break.
The Panthers answered back in a high-scoring third quarter. The hosts cut the lead down to five heading into the final period, but the Dolphins were ready to respond.
Behind a resurgent Battle, Jacksonville took over down the stretch. The Dolphins dominated in clutch time. They went on a 17-3 run over the final 5:14 of the game to blow the game away.
Game Notes
- Three Dolphins scored in double digits for the third-consecutive game, led by Battle's 19 points.
- Senior guard Priscilla Williams led Jacksonville on the glass with eight rebounds.
- Williams and sophomore guard Sana'a Garrett tied for the team lead in assists with five.
- Garrett dominated defensively with a season-high four steals.
- Freshman forward Mariah Knight scored the first points of her college career on a first-half three-pointer. She finished with five points on 2-5 shooting.
Head Coach Special Jennings
"We battled. Any time you come into someone else's arena, it's gonna be tough, it's gonna be hard. That is a great team, picked second in their conference right now, I think they have a great chance to win it. So, it's great to see how they just competed for 40 minutes"
Next Up
The Dolphins return to Swisher Gymnasium for another in-state clash. Jacksonville will host the Florida A&M Rattlers at 6:30 p.m. Monday, November 18.
