JSU women brace for 'intense challenge in front of us' with ASUN title on the line

Mar. 11—JACKSONVILLE — The Jacksonville State Gamecocks have only one team standing between them and an NCAA women's basketball tournament berth, and it's a stout one.

With the ASUN tournament championship on the line, JSU (24-6) must face perennial women's hoops power Florida Gulf Coast (28-2) on the Eagles' home floor Saturday at 6 p.m. ESPN+ will carry the broadcast online. The winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

FGCU has won the last five ASUN tournament crowns and eight of the last 10. According to ESPN's NCAA bracketology, the Eagles already are slotted into the NCAA field, but of course, the network is already assuming they'll polish off JSU, listing FGCU as a predicted "automatic qualifier."

"We know we're going to have an intense challenge in front of us," JSU coach Rick Pietri said.

The two teams played once this year, with Florida Gulf Coast winning 66-44 at JSU. The Eagles didn't have their best player, 6-foot-1 guard Kierstan Bell, who is the ASUN's player of the year. She was out with a knee issue. Bell also missed the Eagles' only loss this season to an ASUN team, a 58-55 defeat to Stetson.

"I think for us in order to beat them, we've got to be locked in and focused like we were today," JSU fifth-year senior guard Kiana Johnson said immediately after the Gamecocks' 59-57 win over Liberty in the ASUN semifinals. "Just come ready and prepared, like today, when everybody gave it their all and left nothing on the floor. That's how we have to play against them."

Bell, a junior, averages 23.1 points and 7.5 rebounds, and after missing about a month, she returned in time to play the last four games. She seems fine. In the Eagles' 82-67 semifinal win over Stetson, she had 19 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, five blocks and four steals.

She was a transfer from Ohio State, where she was all-Big Ten as a freshman. She has announced she is headed to the WNBA after this season.

She's the least experienced starter.

When Bell missed the previous meeting with JSU, 5-3 senior guard Tishara Morehouse took over, producing 20 points, five rebounds and four assists. She is a two-time first-team all-ASUN player, averaging 14.9 points a game.

The Eagles also have 5-7 fifth-year senior guard Kendal Spray, who was an All-Ohio Valley Conference player at UT Martin and a starter at Clemson. She averages 11.2 points a game.

Fifth-year senior Kerstie Phills, a 5-9 guard, averages 8.8 points and 5.1 rebound was an all-conference player at Wagner before transferring to FGCU. Fifth-year senior Karli Seay, a 5-7 guard, was an LSU transfer, where she was a part-time starter.

When the Eagles played at JSU, they led by 11 points after one quarter, 17 at halftime and 22 after three periods.

"Listen, when they came in here, we weren't even competitive with them," Pietri said. "So the first thing we have to do is show them that we can compete. That's the first thing we have to do. Honestly, before we can think about winning, we have to compete first. Then, if we show we can compete, we can think about winning."

Even so, this is a historic JSU women's basketball team. The Gamecocks' 24 wins are a record by far in the school's Division I era, which began in 1995. Two other teams won 19 games, both of which were coached by Pietri.

They've won seven straight, and they've been especially good in close games, posting a 6-2 mark in contests decided by five points or less.

And, they have a chance to win their first Division I conference championship. They reached the finals in 1996 and '99 under Dana Austin but lost both times.

The message from Pietri: don't sell this group short and hand the trophy to FGCU prematurely.

"This team, they worked really hard," Pietri said. "Going back to last spring, they had people doubt them. They made it very important to themselves to make this a good year, and really, to this point, it's been more than a good year. It's been a great year to this point.

"But it's to this point. It's not over. We've got some more work to do."

Senior Editor Mark Edwards: 256-235-3570. On Twitter: @MarkSportsStar.