Box Score

JACKSONVILLE – Junior Danielle Vaughn turned in her third-straight double-double, but it wasn't enough for the Jacksonville State women's basketball team as they fell 68-52 to Morehead State on Monday afternoon at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

The 16-point setback dropped JSU to 3-15 on the season and 0-5 in Ohio Valley Conference play.  Jax State has now lost its ninth-straight game in a row and tenth OVC defeat dating back to the last five conference games of 2010-11.  The Eagles of Morehead State maintained its spot among the early conference front-runners with their 3-1 OVC mark and improved to 6-10 overall.

The Eagles overcame a one-point halftime deficit to post the road win over the Gamecocks.  Trailing 28-27 heading into intermission, MSU out-scored JSU, 41-24 in the second half.  The MSU tandem of Ashar Harris and Linda Dixon carried their squad in the final 20 minutes as they combined for 29 of the 41 second half points.  Harris carded a double-double in the second half alone as she scored 17 of her 19 points in the final 20 minutes and 11 of her 13 rebounds in the second period.  Dixon registered 12 of her game-high 20 points in the second half.

MSU started the second half with a 13-2 scoring run to take its first double digit lead at 40-30 at the 13:04 mark of the half.  The Eagle lead stayed at double figures throughout the rest of the half and eventually they led by 17 points at 67-50 with 1:44 left on the game clock after a Dixon three-pointer.

The Gamecocks trailed the Eagles for the first 15 minutes of the contest before equalizing the score at 17-all after a Destiny jumper with 5:49 left in the half.  After the Blue and Gold regained the lead a couple of trips down the floor later and pushed the lead out to five points, JSU clawed back over the final 1:32 of the first half to take its only lead of the game with 14 seconds left on the first half clock.  Freshman Miranda Cantrell knocked down a basket to give the Red and White the 28-27 halftime lead.  With the loss, Jax State is 2-3 on the season when holding a lead over the opposition after the first 20 minutes.  The Eagles took advantage of JSU's 27 turnovers as they turned those miscues into 21 points on the offensive end.

Vaughn reached double digits in the scoring column by halftime with ten of her final 14 points.  The Huntsville, Ala-post player pulled down seven of her game-high 14 rebounds in the first half.  The double-double marks the seventh the season for Vaughn and the 14th of her career.  Vaughn, the OVC leader in field goal percentage, finished the affair 7-of-10 from the field and credited with a pair of blocks in her 36 minutes of action.  Cantrell was the only other Gamecock to reach double figures in scoring with a season-best 11 points.  Lane finished with nine points, while Candace Morton and Brittany Manning added five points each. 

JSU struggled from behind the three-point arc as it went 0-of-6 from long range.  It marks the third time this season JSU did not connect on a three-pointer.  On the other end, the Eagles entered the contest averaging seven treys and they reach that mark on Monday (7-of-31).  For the third-straight game, the Gamecocks out-rebounded the opposition as they were a plus-six (46-40) on the boards. 

The Gamecocks hit the road for the next three contests, beginning with a trip to Clarksville, Tenn. on Saturday, Jan. 14.  Tip off is set for 5:15 p.m. on the Austin Peay campus.  JSU continues to trip to Murray, Ky. on Monday, Jan. 16 against Murray State.