Box Score

AUBURN – Jacksonville State could not handle the Auburn's size in the paint in a 66-49 loss to the Tigers in an in-state battle on Wednesday night at the Auburn Arena.

The Gamecocks, playing their second-straight team from the Southeastern Conference, started off well from the field, taking an early lead before AU turned up the full court pressure and the inside game began to take control of the game.  AU's pressure also caused Jax State fits throughout the contest by converting 24 points on 19 miscues by JSU.  In the opening half, the Tigers scored 14 of their 31 points off Gamecock turnovers and posted 22 first half points inside the paint.  For the game, AU out-scored JSU in the paint, 52-14. 

AU pushed its lead out to double figures with a 20-9 run over a span of 11:50 in the opening half as it led 23-13 at the 4:40 mark of the opening half.  JSU began chipping away at the deficit with the scoring of junior Candace Morton.  Morton scored nine-straight points to keep JSU within reach of AU.  Morton knocked down 12 of her 21 points in the first half.  Her 12 points in the first half marks the second-straight game in which the Lexington, Ky.-native has reached double digits by halftime.  The guard posted 14 points in the opening half at Ole Miss in the season opener.  It was also her second-straight 21 point game and her third 20-plus point game in her career.  She led all scorers for the second consecutive game.  Morton was a perfect with a career-high 8-for-8 from the charity stripe

The contest remained within 10 points for the first 12 minutes of the second half until the Tigers extended the lead out to 13 points at 50-37 with just over seven minutes left in the game.  Tra'Cee Tanner sparked AU's second half scoring with 15 of her final 19 points in the final 20 minutes.  After trailing by the 13-point margin, JSU would chip away at the deficit with a 10-6 run over a span of 2:45 and get within single digits at 56-47 with just under four minutes left on clock.

The nine-point deficit would be as close as JSU would get as AU closed out the final three minutes with a 10-2 run to post the 17-point home win.  Helping out Tanner in the paint was Peyton Davis, who finished with 14 points.  Brandy Montgomery added 15 points in the win.

Junior Miranda Cantrell, who had an eight-game double figure scoring streak on the line, came up one point shy of her ninth consecutive double digit scoring game with nine points.  The College Park, Ga.-native was hampered with foul trouble in the opening half with two quick fouls.

The AU pressure had an effect on JSU shooting as it finished the game shooting just 29 percent from the field.  Jax State excelled at the free throw line with an 83 percent mark (15-of-18).  The Tigers turned in a 45 percent shooting effort for the game and was limited to just 11 trips to the free throw line.

Freshman Kelly Naughton led the Gamecocks in rebounding with six boards to go along with her four assists in 33 minutes of action.  Junior Bria'unna Buckner pitched in seven points, while junior Gia Banks added six points.

The Gamecocks conclude their season-opening, three-game road trip on Saturday, Nov. 16 in Statesboro, Ga. to take Georgia Southern.  The Eagles are 0-2 on the season after a 69-59 setback to AU last Saturday and a 103-38 loss to nationally-ranked Kentucky on Wednesday afternoon.