Box Score
Final Stats

JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team wrapped up the non-conference schedule with a tough 68-60 setback to Georgia State on Wednesday evening at Pete Mathews Coliseum on the JSU campus.

The eight-point home loss was the lone non-conference defeat for the Gamecocks on the home floor and posted a 3-1 mark in non-conference action at Pete Mathews Coliseum this season.  Jax State fell to 3-11 on the season and moved its losing skid to five straight games.  The Panthers of GSU moved to 5-6 on the season with the road win.

The Panthers used a 38-point second half surge to post the win after overcoming a 33-30 halftime deficit to JSU.  The come-from-behind win by the opposition was Jax State's second straight in as many games.  Against Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 20, the Red and White held a 32-31 edge at the halftime break.  GSU connected on 14-of-32 (43.8%) in the second half and forced 14 JSU turnovers in the final 20 minutes. 

The contest saw eight lead changes throughout the contest and the Gamecocks built the largest lead held by either team of 11 points at 24-13 with 7:59 left in the first half.  After GSU's Kendra Long opened the contest with the three-pointer, Jax State took control and mounted a ten-point, 19-9 lead at the 11:51 mark of the opening period.  After trailing by 11 points in the first half, GSU trimmed the lead down to the three-point halftime deficit with a 17-9 run heading into intermission.

The Panthers took their second lead of the game, 38-37 after a Jerlisa Taylor lay up at the 16:55 mark.  GSU would maintain the lead for the next six minutes until JSU senior Destiny Lane hit a pair of free throws to give JSU a 44-43 lead with 10:08 left to play.  From that point, the lead changed hands five times until the two squads knotted the game at 51-all with 6:26 left to play.  GSU took charge and took the lead for good as it built its largest lead of the game at 61-53 with 3:47 left. 

Freshman Briana Morrow turned in a game-high 17 points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes of action.  Lane, the only other Gamecock to register double digits in the scoring column, finished with 14 points.  Junior Danielle Vaughn narrowly missed her fifth double-double of her career with nine points and nine rebounds.  Senior Brittany Manning added seven points along with a career-best five steals in the tilt.  JSU was credited with a season-high 14 steals versus GSU.  Freshman Candace Morton pitched in six points and six assists.

The Panthers had four players reach double figure point status, led by Long and Chan Harris' 13 point efforts.  Cody Paulk tallied 12 points, while Sade Means came off the bench to add ten points. 

Jax State hits the road for its first Ohio Valley Conference road test this weekend as it treks to Edwardsville, Ill. for the first time in the program's history on Dec. 31 for a 12:30 p.m. OVC battle with SIU Edwardsville.  The game will be available on the Gamecock Sports Network and can be seen live on the web at http://www.siuetv.com.