JACKSONVILLE – Tarina Nixon scored 25 points and had four assists and three steals to lead Southeast Missouri State (6-8, 2-2 OVC) to an 82-60 win over Jacksonville State on Monday at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

 

The Gamecocks dropped their third straight contest and seventh consecutive Ohio Valley Conference game, falling to 3-10 overall and 0-3 in league play.

 

Southeast Missouri edged out to an early 6-2 lead only to see Jolie Efezokhae pull JSU to within two on a pair of free throws. The Redhawks went on an 11-2 run to take a 17-6 lead only to see JSU cut the deficit to 20-16 on an Efezokhae layup with 7:06 left in the first half.

 

A pair of Nixon free throws gave SEMO its largest lead of the first half at 42-23 with 12 seconds remaining. A Danielle Beneby free throw with two seconds left sent JSU to the locker room trailing 42-24 at halftime.

 

Southeast Missouri made 57 percent of its field goals, including 54 percent from three point range in the first half. JSU shot 29 percent from the field and 40 percent from three point land in the half.

 

The Gamecocks cut the lead to 14 on a Brittany Wiley layup at the 16:07 mark of the second half only to see the lead stretched back above 20 on a Nixon three with 12:20 to go in the contest JSU would not get any closer than 19 points the rest of the way.

 

JSU did shoot 44 percent in the second half and finished the contest at 37 percent. SEMO remained hot, connecting on 51 percent of its shots and 43.5 percent from beyond the arch on the night.

 

Efezokhae led JSU with 15 points, scoring in double figures for the 46^th time during her career. Wiley posted her second straight game in double figures with 10 points. Destiny Lane and Ann Butehorn grabbed a career-high seven rebounds apiece.

 

Sonya Daugherty followed Nixon with 17 points. Crysta Glenn and Lauren Sharpe pitched in 13 and 12 points while Glenn had a team-high eight rebounds.

 

Jacksonville State hits the road for a two-game road trip, starting on Thursday against Eastern Kentucky at 4:30 p.m. in Richmond, Ky. The Gamecocks close out the trip with a 1 p.m. date against Morehead State on Saturday.