JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's basketball winning streak was extended to five games with an impressive 78-52 home win against Georgia Southern on Tuesday at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

The win pushed JSU's season-opening start to 5-1, which is the best since the 1990-91 season.  The five-game winning streak is the first for Jax State since it compiled five in row since the 2005-06 campaign.  JSU has now won 16 of the last 24 games and 10 of the last 11 games at home since January, 1, 2014.

The 26-point win was keyed by a 41-point second half effort by the Gamecocks and nine three-point baskets in the contest.  The nine made treys is the second time this season that JSU has knocked down that number in a game.  The other game was the Alabama contest that started the string of wins for JSU.

The Eagles of GSU entered the game with a sizable advantage in the post and used it to their advantage early as they jumped out to a six-point, 11-5 lead by the 13:24 mark of the opening half.  Senior Candace Morton went end-to-end with 10:44 left in the half to give Jax State a lead that it would not relinquish.  Morton, who was named the Ohio Valley Conference's Player of the Week earlier in the day, was limited to three first-half points, but finished strong with 14 points.

JSU would extend its lead out to double digits moments before intermission after senior Courtney Strain drilled a three-point basket with 41 ticks left in the half to give JSU a 37-27 margin at the break.  The Woodland, Alabama-native scored 10 of her career high 18 points in the first half.  Strain connected on 6-of-12 from the field and 3-of-7 from long range.

GSU made a brief run at the Gamecocks to open the second half, but an 11-0 run by JSU clipped the Eagles momentum coming out of the locker room.  The run was sparked by the three-point shooting as Morton and Strain combined for three treys in four trips down the floor.  A layup by Miranda Cantrell was sandwiched between the three pointers.  The run pushed a seven-point, 37-30 Jax State lead out to 48-30 at the 16:40 mark of the half.  Another three pointer with 8:05 left on the clock by Briana Benson gave JSU its first 20-point lead of the season at 66-46. 

JSU, who has the best scoring defense in the OVC, once again held the opposition to less than 60 points.  The Eagles didn't crack 50 points until 1:34 left to play.  Jax State pushed its lead out to as many as 30 points just prior to GSU reaching the 50-point mark.  The Gamecock defense forced 16 GSU turnovers and only turned the ball over eight times.  JSU was credited with 19 assists in the win and a season-best 10 steals. 
For the second time this season, JSU placed four players in double figures in the scoring column.  Strain's 18 points led all scorers, while Cantrell had her best point production of the season with 12 points.  Cantrell shared team-high rebounding honors with Benson as both pulled down seven.  JSU had a plus-two advantage on the boards at 48-46.  Benson came off the bench for 11 points.
Patrice Butler and Brian Jones paced the Eagles with 17 and 10 points respectively.

The Gamecocks will play their final home game before the Christmas break on Friday as they host Jackson State.  Tip off is set for 6 p.m. at Pete Mathews Coliseum.  All fans 18 and under get in free to all JSU basketball games.