Box Score Final Stats

KENNESAW, Ga. – Jacksonville State dropped its third road contest of the season after an 81-67 loss at Kennesaw State on Saturday night in the KSU Convocation Center.
 
The Gamecocks fall to 1-3 on the season, while the Owls notched their second-straight win to improve to 2-1 on the season.  The 14-point win by KSU avenges a 77-56 loss to JSU last season in Jacksonville.  It is just the sixth win by the Owls in the 16-game series between the two programs.

The game marked JSU Head Coach Annette Watts' 300th career collegiate game.
 
KSU used a 39-point output in the second half to put away the Gamecocks.  The Black and Gold limited JSU to just 27 points after holding a slim, 42-40 lead at halftime.  KSU maintained that lead the rest of the way and extended its lead out double figures again by the midway point after a pair of free throws by Taylor Mills.  KSU took its largest lead of 17 points on multiple occasions down the stretch before posting the 14-point home win.
 
KSU placed four of its five starters in double figures in the scoring column, led by Ashley Holiday's 23 point night.  Kristina Wells and Mills each tallied 17 points, while Sametria Gedeon sparked the Owls' second half with all 14 points in the final half.
 
In the opening half, the Gamecocks fought back after trailing by as many as 12 points, 18-6, at the 14:20 mark after a KSU three-point play.  JSU began to chip away at the deficit with 11:54 left in the opening half as it put together a 12-0 run over a span of the next six minutes.  Miranda Cantrell's basket at the 4:35 mark gave Jax State its first lead of the contest.  The scoring run was aided by consecutive three-pointers on two-straight trips down the floor by Candace Morton and Destiny Lane.  Over the final 7:11 of the first period, the Gamecocks out-scored the Owls 20-13, but trailed 42-40 at intermission.
 
Junior Danielle Vaughn registered 11 of her team-high 19 points in the opening half.  Vaughn was two rebounds shy of recording her second-straight double-double.
 
Lane finished with 15 points, including a trio of three-pointers after playing her second 40 minute contest.  Freshman Candace Morton turned in her first double-digit outing as a Gamecock, scoring 13 points.  The Lexington, Ky.-product also dished out five assists.  Brittany Manning added six points, while Briana Morrow pitched in five points.
 
As a team, JSU scored 26 points off of 18 KSU turnovers, while the Owls accumulated 23 points off of 24 Jax State miscues.  JSU, who out-rebounded KSU, 40-30, had 22 second chance points.  KSU finished the night shooting 50 percent from the field (27-of-54), while JSU connected on that same number and attempted 63 shots.
 
The Gamecocks close out their stretch of five games in 11 days with a Thanksgiving week duel with Lipscomb University on Monday, Nov. 21 at Pete Mathews Coliseum.  Tip off is set for 7 p.m. on the JSU campus.