JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --- The Jacksonville Dolphins continued their winning ways, taking their fourth game in five, defeating Florida International 80-69. The Dolphins (4-1) were led by sophomore Mychal White, who had a breakout performance for JU.

She set a new Division 1 career high with 19 points, adding six assists and three steals to her stat sheet. 

"I'll watch her every day in practice, I see it and we believe in her," head coach Special Jennings said. "She's starting to see it and believe in herself and it's great for us."

The first quarter saw the teams race up and down the court, but the scores stayed low and close as neither side pulled significantly ahead. Crisp ball movement found sophomore Mariah Knight wide-open at the top of the key, and she cashed in the open triple to put JU up 15-13 at the end of the first.

The ball movement continued to open up opportunities in the second quarter. The Dolphins found junior Carmaya Bowman in the high post who quickly pushed it out to senior Makiya Miller in the corner for a triple.

Jacksonville showed its grit in the second quarter, getting to the free-throw line with regularity. White led the way, driving hard to the paint. She finished the quarter with nine points, five coming from the charity stripe.

After a pair of free throws from freshman Tatum Brown, White scored a layup to put the Dolphins up 10. Two baskets from sophomore Comari Mitchell later, Jacksonville took a 46-34 advantage into the second half.

The Panthers flipped the game in the third quarter. FIU took a 58-53 lead into the final period of play.

The fourth period, though, belonged to the Dolphins. Freshman Kimora Hester provided an early spark, getting the first Jacksonville points on the board. White drilled a triple a minute later, tying the game at 58. 

Burns splashed home a triple and senior Kali Howard added a bucket to push the lead to six. Hester added a triple as the lead went up to nine points. From then it was all Dolphins to the finish line. 

Graduate student Priscilla Williams scored a layup with 2:36 left in the game to put Jacksonville up 75-63. The Dolphins closed out the game 80-69.

Game Notes

• This is the first time JU's scored at least 75 points in three of its first five games since 2019.
• Three Dolphins finished in double-figures (White, Williams and Miller).
• Jacksonville was active defensively, totalling eight blocks and eight steals.

Coach's Comments
"You've got to stack days," Jennings said. "No one said they'd be easy, but it's super exciting. We had to grind this one out, FIU is a well-coached team. I've played them every year I've been here, and they're a tough team every year. Mychal came in and gave us a spark, Kimora came in the fourth quarter and gave us a spark, that's that it's about: team victories."

Up Next
The Dolphins will be back at Swisher Gymnasium against the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes Tuesday. Tip-off is slated for 6:30 PM, and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.