Jacksonville, Fla. – The Jacksonville Dolphins women’s basketball team secured its sixth consecutive victory by defeating the Stetson Hatters 76-70 on Thursday night at Swisher Gymnasium. With this win, Jacksonville moves to 17-7 overall and 9-4 in ASUN play, taking sole possession of second place in the conference and achieving their highest number of total and league wins since the 2019-20 season.
The Dolphins took control early in the game, with freshman Tatum Brown scoring inside and drawing a foul for a three-point play before adding a pull-up jumper. An early layup from sophomore Comari Mitchell forced Stetson into a timeout as Jacksonville jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first quarter.
Stetson responded with a three-pointer but Brown answered with one of her own. Despite offensive pushes from both teams, Jacksonville led 18-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Graduate student Priscilla Williams began to impact the game in the second quarter, making a three-pointer, converting free throws after drawing a foul, and assisting freshman Aniah Smith for another triple. Although Stetson closed within one point during this stretch, Brown assisted junior Carmaya Bowman for two points and then found Williams for another three-pointer. Bowman added another basket as Jacksonville entered halftime leading 55-49.
In the second half, Jacksonville continued their strong shooting from beyond the arc. Brown hit her second three-pointer of the game while Smith added another long-range shot to extend their lead. Brown would finish with three triples on the night.
Senior Makiya Miller contributed with tough layups and connected on a key three-pointer late in the fourth quarter to put Jacksonville ahead 70-61 with less than four minutes remaining. Defensively, Jacksonville limited Stetson to just two field goals over those final minutes and sealed their win by hitting six free throws down the stretch.
According to team statistics, five players—Williams, Miller, Bowman, Brown, and Smith—scored in double figures for only the second time this season. The Dolphins also dominated on rebounds (41-26), led by Williams’ 12 boards. Though they never led by more than single digits during any point of play, Jacksonville was ahead for over 90 percent of game time and has now scored at least 75 points in eleven games this year.
Head Coach Special Jennings commented on her team’s performance: “Great teams find a way to win. It’s not always going to be pretty, but we made the plays we needed to make and got the victory tonight.”
On having multiple players score double digits Jennings said: “When we’ve got multiple people in double figures, that’s where we’re at our best. It challenges the defense and lets us see what they can take away. Priscilla Willims is a unicorn, she’s an incredible player, but we’re a lot more than just Priscilla Williams.”
Jennings also addressed winning rebounds: “We focused all week on making them one-and-done on offense. Number 27 for them, Promise [Keshi], she has a motor like no other. So we knew we’d have to match their effort and intensity tonight, and we did a good job of that.”
Jacksonville will remain local as it prepares for its next matchup against North Florida in what will be this season’s first River City Rumble at UNF Arena; tip-off is set for Saturday at 2 PM with streaming available via ESPN+.
