Box Score

MOREHEAD, Ky. – Jacksonville State placed four players in double figures in the scoring column, but it wasn't enough to overcome a first half deficit as JSU women's basketball squad fell 79-60 to Morehead State on Monday evening.

Junior Danielle Vaughn recorded her tenth double-double of the season and the 17th of her career with an 11 point, 15 rebound night. The Huntsville, Ala.-post player, who played all 40 minutes, has now tallied double digits in 38 career games and just two double-doubles shy of matching former Gamecock Shanika Freeman's mark of 12 in a single season.  Vaughn was one rebound shy of matching her career high on the boards.

The loss was JSU's seventh in a row as it fell to 4-22 on the season and 1-12 in OVC games.  MSU pushed its overall mark to 9-16 and 6-7 in the OVC.  The 19-point setback to the Eagles was the fourth-straight since the Gamecocks claimed an overtime decision last year on MSU's home floor.  MSU claimed the first meting of the year in Jacksonville, 68-52.

The Eagles led from the opening tip to the final buzzer and built its double digit lead midway through the opening half as they took advantage of Jax State's 17 first half turnovers and capitalized on them with 15 points on the other end.  At the 11:23 mark of the half, MSU held an 18-8 lead and the difference was 10 points off Gamecock miscues.  Morehead pushed the double figure lead out to as many as 15 points with just over two minutes left in the half at 31-16.  JSU was able to trim the deficit down to nine points at intermission after scoring the final six points of the half.  The Blue and Gold took a 31-22 lead in to the dressing room.

MSU opened its nine-point lead out to 18 points after starting the second half on a 17-8 scoring run to push the lead out to 48-30 at the 15:48 mark of the final period.  The Eagles posted their largest lead of 20 points on two occasions on the game's final 8:12.  After MSU held its second 20-point lead at 67-47 with 6:22 left, JSU made a run to get within 12 points.  The Gamecocks put together a 9-0 scoring run over the next three minutes, but the Eagles thwarted Jax State's threat as they extended the lead out to the final 19-point deficit.

Freshman Briana Morrow and senior Brittany Manning shared team high scoring honors with 14 points each.  Morrow had a strong second half effort with 12 of her 14 points in the final half.  She finished the half 4-of-5 from the field in the half and knocked down four free throws.  The Nashville, Tenn.-product has turned in back-to-back double figure scoring outings after ten points at UT Martin last Monday.

Manning has now reached double digits in scoring in six of her last eight games dating back to JSU's road contest at Murray State.  The 14 points was a season-high for the Huntsville, Ala.-native in OVC match ups.  Manning was also credited with three assists as she was hampered with foul trouble throughout her 35 minutes of activity.

Returning to her home state, freshman Candace Morton finished with 11 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals.

Linda Dixon led all scorers with 17 points and six assists.  Dixon scored 13 points in the second half alone to spark the Eagles offensive numbers.  Courtney Lumpkin scored ten of her final 14 points in the opening half. Almesha Jones added 14 points to the MSU cause, while Ashar Harris was credited with nine points and just nine rebounds.  Harris ranked as the top-rebounder in the OVC coming into the contest. 

JSU wraps up the OVC road schedule next Saturday, Feb. 18, as it visits Nashville, Tenn. for a 5:30 p.m. contest against the Lady Tigers of Tennessee State.