The Jackson State Lady Tigers continue their dominant 2024 run after pulling out a comeback victory against the Southern Jaguars. Following a rocky stretch of games in which the Lady Tigers went 0-5, they completely turned their season around with a nine-game winning streak. They started the winning streak as soon as they started SWAC conference play and stopped playing teams such as Miami (FL), #14 Kansas State, and #5 Texas.

The Southern Jaguars shared a similar story to Jackson State and a similar non-conference schedule. However, they have not been nearly as dominant as the Lady Tigers. After beating Oklahoma, the Jaguars posted a 6-4 conference record. They entered the contest against Jackson State having beaten Alcorn State by just three points and looked to extend their recent winning streak to three games.

The first quarter started pretty slow on the offensive end for both teams, especially considering the explosions in later quarters. It took Southern four minutes to score their first basket, but in that time, Jackson State only put up seven points. Keshuna Luckett led the Lady Tigers with four points, and all of them came from the free throw line. Jackson State lead 10-7 after the opening period.

Although Jackson State's offense continued to struggle, the lid on the hoop seemed to come off for Southern in the second quarter. They more than tripled their first quarter production and outscored the Lady Tigers 25-7.  The Jaguars held their opponents to just two points for the first eight minutes of the ten-minute period. In that time, they embarked on a 20-2 run and took a commanding 27-12 lead with two minutes remaining. Jackson State continued to make free throws, but they still trailed at the half, 32-17.

At the start of the third quarter, the Lady Tigers started to make a push for the lead. They came out with a 14-2 run, closing the gap and coming with three points of the lead. However, despite the initial scoring surge, Southern weathered the storm and punched back. In the final four minutes of the quarter, the Jaguars went on their own 12-1 run to reclaim their double-digit advantage. Southern led 50-34 going into the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter, everything flipped. Jackson State finally found their offensive rhythm while Southern struggled to buy a bucket. Miya Crump made a three-pointer in the opening minute of the quarter that kicked off an extensive comeback for the Lady Tigers. They slowly chipped away at the deficit while holding Southern to just eight points in the entire quarter. Jackson State cut the lead to single digits after a three-pointer from Luckett, putting them down 55-48. After a layup from Ti'lan Boler and multiple free throws, the Lady Tigers came within a basket of tying the game with two minutes to play. Boler made another layup to tie the game at 56.

Nearly a minute later, Jackson State took their first lead since the second quarter after an and-one layup from Crump. She sunk the free throw, putting the Lady Tigers up 59-56 with a minute remaining. As Southern continue to struggle on offense, all Jackson State had to do was make their free throws to ice the game. The Lady Tigers continued their win streak with a 63-58 comeback victory.

Genovea Johnson led the way for the Southern Jaguars with 11 points and seven rebounds. Taylor Williams followed right behind her with 10 points and three rebounds, though she fouled out of the game. In fact, three Southern players fouled out: Williams, Aniya Gourdine, and Raven White. Gourdine finished with nine points, three rebounds, and two steals. White had a similar stat line of eight points and three rebounds.

Ti'lan Boler carried the Jackson State Lady Tigers with 20 points and six rebounds. Keshuna Luckett scored 11 of her 16 points from the free throw line. She also had five assists, two rebounds, and two steals. Miya Crump filled her stat sheet with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals.

Jackson State takes on Mississippi Valley State next on Feb. 10 as they look to increase their winning streak to 10 games. The same night, Southern will look to bounce back against Alabama A&M.