A streak nine years in the breaking as JU women top Florida Gulf Coast

When the Jacksonville University women's basketball team last beat Florida Gulf Coast, Blake Bortles was the Jacksonville Jaguars' starting quarterback, Jim McElwain was the University of Florida football coach and people were running to get the best deals on iPhone 7s.

The Dolphins' longest losing streak against an ASUN opponent is over.

Senior guard Priscilla Williams scored 16 of her game-high 30 points in the third quarter when the Dolphins broke away from a 35-35 tie, and they went on to beat the Eagles 81-70 on Feb. 7 at FGCU's Alico Arena.

JU (16-7, 8-4) broke a 19-game losing streak against Gulf Coast (11-12, 7-5) and snapped a 10-game losing streak in Fort Myers. The Dolphins have won five in a row, their longest streak since 2018, are in a three-way tie for second in the ASUN behind Eastern Kentucky (12-0) and are on track for a first-round bye in the conference tournament when it begins in Jacksonville on March 3.

Jacksonville went on a 20-4 run in the third period, with Williams scoring both inside and out and collecting 14 of the points during the surge. Freshman guard Tatum Brown tipped in a missed shot at the third-period buzzer for a 61-51 lead and the Dolphins never trailed by less than nine points after that.

JU's last victory over Gulf Coast was 73-65 at Swisher Gym on Feb. 4, 2017. The Dolphins last won in Fort Myers on March 13, 2016, 56-54, clinching their last ASUN Championship.

"That's the reason I came to Jacksonville, to get this program back to the top half of the league and competing and hopefully winning championships," said JU coach Special Jennings. "Today was fun. Both teams can make shots, which we certainly did."

Williams added 16 rebounds and four assists. She leads the ASUN in rebounding with 8.7 per game and is second in scoring with 15.7 per game.

Senior guard Makiya Miller had 12 points, and junior forward Carmaya Bowman and sophomore guard Comari Mitchell 10 points each. Brown had 10 rebounds. JU punished the Eagles with a 45-35 rebounding advantage, outscored them 14-2 on second-chance points and scored 23 points off turnovers with five players getting two steals each.

Two days earlier, Brown had 16 points, 12 rebounds and six steals in JU's 82-61 victory over West Georgia. Williams added 16 points and nine rebounds and Bowman had 14 points.

Men: Ospreys split on the road

North Florida (6-19, 4-8 ASUN): The Ospreys keep taking one step forward and one step back. UNF shot 59 percent in the second half to pull away from a 37-34 deficit and win 81-73 on Feb. 5 at The Coliseum in Carrollton, Ga., but then went ice-cold from the field in the final 15 minutes on Feb. 7 and lost 91-72 to Queens at the Curry Arena in Charlotte, N.C.

The Ospreys were tied with Queens 62-62 with 15:43 left, but scored only 10 more points as the Royals' Carson Schwieger scored 29 points on 10 of 13 shooting, making 7 of 10 from beyond the 3-point arc. UNF shot two of 17 and had five turnovers after tying the game. Sophomore guard Mason Lee, a Providence graduate, led the Ospreys with 16 points and senior guard Kamrin Oriol had 15 points, all from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Kent Jackson, an Episcopal graduate, had only six points on two of 11 shooting, after averaging 24 points in his previous four games.

In the victory over West Georgia, Oriol scored 22 points and Jackson 17.

Jacksonville (9-16, 4-8 ASUN): The Dolphins' identity, a strong defense, has deserted them during a three-game losing streak. West Georgia shot 66 percent in the second half and pulled away from a 35-35 halftime tie to beat visiting JU 87-73 on Feb. 7. JU has given up an average of 82.6 points during its current losing streak, after yielding only 65.2 points in the previous six games, when they went 4-2. The Wolves also out-rebounded the Dolphins 40-31. Jaylen Jones led JU with 19 points and freshman guard Hayden Woods has 12.

Jacksonville gave up a season-high in points in a conference game with a 93-84 loss at host Queens on Feb. 5. The Royals shot 60 percent in the first half and outscored JU 46-32 in the paint. Seven players scored eight or more points for Queens, led by Yoav Berman with 17. Sophomore guard Chris Arias, a Providence graduate, came off the bench to lead the Dolphins with 18 points and junior forward Donovan Rivers had 17, but only one rebound.

Edward Waters (12-12, 10-10 SIAC): The Tigers suffered perhaps their most devastating defeat of the season when Albany State's Cameron Evans was fouled by sophomore guard Jalen Nelson on a 3-point attempt with one second left, and made all three free throws in a 67-66 victory on Feb. 7 at the Adams-Jenkins Complex. Edward Waters had an 18-point lead with 14:50 left, but Albany's graduate senior guard Shakur Poteat of Orlando scored 20 of his 34 points in the second half to lead the comeback. Nelson led the Tigers with 19 points and junior forward Keshawn Evans had 17 points and 16 rebounds. ... Nelson and freshman guard Jayvon Johnson scored 17 points each in a 68-49 victory over LeMoyne-Owen (Tenn.) on Feb. 3. ... Nelson had 19 points and Evans 16 points and nine rebounds in a 78-62 victory over Spring Hill (Ala.) on Feb. 5.

Flagler (15-8, 9-6 Peach Belt): ... The Saints cut a 13-point deficit with less than 10 minutes left to two with an 11-0 run but USC-Aiken held on to win 65-59 on Feb. 7 at the Aiken Convocation Center. Graduate guard Rahdir Hicks hit a jumper to cap the run to shave Aiken's lead to 51-49 with 6:19 left, but Flagler got no closer. Junior guard Mason Manning and freshman guard Melvin Teal led with 12 points each. ... The Saints overcame a dismal 21 percent shooting performance in the first half and rallied to beat Middle Georgia 68-58 at home on Feb. 4. Flagler rallied from a nine-point deficit early in the second half with a 15-6 run, then pulled away from a 52-51 lead with 6:13 left to outscore Middle Georgia 17-6 over the rest of the game. Hicks (17 points) and Manning combined to make 9 of 9 free throws down the stretch.

Trinity College (10-8, 4-1 NCCAA Region II South): ... Senior center Brandon Hill scored a layup with 1:38 left to give the Eagles a 91-82 lead over Bob Jones University (S.C.) but the Eagles failed to score again as BJU scored the last 10 points in a 92-91 victory. Shad Vander Hart made two free throws with 29 seconds left to put BJU ahead, after assisting on Trevor Pittman's 3-point shot 11 seconds earlier. Sophomore guard Tayden Owen led TBC with 30 points and senior guard Diego Fernandez and junior guard Maximus Fuentes had 19 each. ... Fernandez had 26 points, seven assists and four steals to lead a 97-88 victory over Pensacola Christian on Feb. 3 at home. Owens and freshman guard Sherrad Adams had 21 points each.

This week's games

Feb. 11: North Florida at Florida Gulf Coast, 7 p.m.

Feb. 12: Jacksonville at Stetson, 7 p.m.

Feb. 14: Flagler at Lander (S.C.), 3:30 p.m.; North Florida at Jacksonville, 4 p.m.; Trinity (Fla.) at Trinity College, 4 p.m.; Savannah State at Edward Waters, 7:30 p.m.

Women: Tigers roar to a 10th consecutive victory

Edward Waters (19-4, 17-3 SIAC): EWU ran its winning streak to 10 games with three victories in five days, capped by a 89-49 Senior Night triumph over Albany State at the Adams Jenkins Complex. It was the most points the Tigers scored in a game since beating Carver College 96-32 on Jan. 29, 2022, a span of 111 games. Graduate guard Amelya Hatch led 11 players who scored with 15 points off the bench, and Jackson High graduate Xaniya Jackson had 14, also off the bench. Senior guard Shcria Fowles had 12 points and 11 rebounds and junior guard Tan Brown added 12.

The Tigers forced 29 turnovers and limited LeMoyne-Owens (Tenn.) to 30 percent shooting in a 50-36 victory on Feb. 3. Jackson had 14 points and junior guard Imani Harris 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. ... In a 66-32 victory over Spring Hill (Ala.) on Feb. 5, EWU held its opponent to 9 of 49 shooting (18 percent). Harris had 15 points and Fowles contributed seven points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

North Florida (8-15, 3-9 ASUN): West Georgia went on a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter and buried any upset hopes for the Ospreys with a 75-68 loss at UNF Arena on Feb. 7. UNF cut a 38-23 halftime deficit to 49-46 by outscoring the Wolves 21-11 in the third period. Junior guard Alonya Waldon (19 points) scored 12 of her points in that period and junior guard Elle Blatchford (13 points) had seven. Freshman guard Dezuray McGill had 18 points off the bench and made eight of 11 shots. ... Stetson quelled a rally by outscoring the Ospreys 18-8 in the fourth quarter to win 74-56 on Feb. 5 at UNF. Waldon and Blatchford had 12 points each.

Flagler (9-14, 4-11 Peach Belt): The Saints went cold from the floor in two conference losses. They shot 36 percent overall, made only two of 14 3-point attempts and didn't have a player in double figures in a 62-55 loss at USC-Aiken on Feb. 7 and made only 3 of 19 3-point attempts in a 60-46 loss at home to Middle Georgia on Feb. 4. Senior guard Natalie Herrin led Flagler with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Trinity College (11-8, 4-1 NCCAA Region II South): Junior guard Laila Harvey made a layup with 1:42 left and the Eagles held on despite not scoring against to beat Bob Jones University (S.C.) 66-65 on Feb. 7 in Greenville, S.C. Junior guard Kirsten Joseph and sophomore forward Travesha Gidden scored 15 points each and sophomore guard M'lani Vitela had 11 points and seven steals. ... Joseph scored 21 points and Vitela added 19 in a 99-91 loss to Pensacola Christian at home on Feb. 3. Giddens collected 10 points and 10 rebounds.

This week's games

Feb. 12: Stetson at Jacksonville, 6:30 p.m.; Florida Gulf Coast at North Florida, 7 p.m.; Florida State College-Jacksonville at Trinity College, 8 p.m.

Feb. 14: Flagler at Lander (S.C.), 1:30 p.m.; Jacksonville at North Florida, 2 p.m.; Trinity (Fla.) at Trinity College, 2 p.m.; Savannah State at Edward Waters, 5:30 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Priscilla Williams leads JU over FGCU breaking a 19-game losing streak