Box Score JACKSONVILLE – For the second consecutive contest, Jacksonville State dropped a tough road contest as South Carolina State edged the Gamecocks, 55-52, on Tuesday night at the S-H-M Memorial Center on the SCSU campus.

The loss is the second in a row after the Gamecocks had strung together six-straight wins after falling in the season opener at Texas Tech.  Jax State will remain on the road to take part in the UNC Wilmington Christmas Classic on Friday and Saturday.  JSU opens the two-day tournament against Charleston Southern at 1 p.m. CST on Friday.

After enduring a tough overtime loss at Kennesaw State last Saturday, the Gamecocks started with great effort and the shooting stroke of senior Courtney Strain.  Strain, the transfer from Auburn, scored JSU's first 11 points as she raced out to an 11-2 scoring run over the first eight minutes of the contest.  The Lady Bulldogs did not get on the scoreboard until the 12:05 mark of the opening half.  Sophomore Briana Benson was the first Gamecock other than Courtney Strain to score as she drilled a three-pointer to spark a run by the Red and White.  After SCSU trimmed the lead to 11-7 at the 9:22 mark of the half, JSU went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to give the Gamecocks their largest lead of the game at 14 points with 6:46 to play in the half.

SCSU started knocking down shots and forcing JSU in to turnovers.  JSU would nurse its lead to the halftime break after the Lady Bulldogs knotted the score at 24-all with 32 second left in the period after a 17-3 scoring run.  Courtney Strain's basket right before the buzzer gave her squad a 26-24 lead at the break.

Strain was the Red and White offense in the first half as she scored 15 of her game-high 18 points in the first half.  As a team, the Gamecocks were 8-26 from the field and the Woodland, Alabama-native have six of those eight baskets, including 3-of-5 from three-point range.  JSU, which matched a season-best from long range with nine treys, was 5-of-13 in the first half.

In the second half, JSU pushed its lead out to seven two minutes deep after another three-pointer by Strain and Destany McLin's first points of the game.  After SCSU took its first lead of the game at 37-35 at the 12:15 mark, JSU's McLin drilled her first three-pointer of the season to erase SCSU's lead and give JSU a 40-39 lead with 11:12 on the clock.   That would be the last lead for the Gamecocks as they would go on a scoring drought that lasted nearly eight minutes as the Lady Bulldogs took advantage of the drought to take the lead and push it out to as many as eight with 3:54 left in the game.  Benson's trey at the 3:11 mark snapped the skid.

JSU would get within a basket three times down the floor the rest of the way, but could not down a shot or get a shot off as SCSU turned the Gamecocks over 11 times in the final 20 minutes.
The 20 turnovers was a season high for Jax State as it entered the contest ranked among the nation's leaders in turnovers per game.  The Lady Bulldogs also were credited with 15 steals.  SCSU proved why it is one of the best in takeaways as it came in to the game third in the NCAA in steals at 14.9 per game.  SCSU turned the 20 JSU miscues in to 15 points on the offensive end.

Senior Candace Morton, JSU's top-scorer, was limited to six second-half points.  McLin added eight points, while Benson and Miranda Cantrell finished with six points each.

Kourtney Williams led SCSU with 14 points, while Jasmine Coleman scored 10 points off the bench.