Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jacksonville State improbable run in the 2014 Ohio Valley Conference Women's Tournament ran into a fresh Belmont squad in the semifinals as the Bruins topped JSU, 65-50, on Friday at Municipal Auditorium.

The Gamecocks, who suffered through a dismal 1-27 season in 2012-13, had a remarkable 13-win turnaround to finish 14-18 on the season and 8-8 in the OVC under first-year head coach Rick Pietri.  Pietri was rewarded with engineering one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA Women's Basketball this season with the OVC Coach of the Year honor.  Belmont moves on to face top-seeded UT Martin in the OVC Championship game on Saturday at 1 p.m.  The Skyhawks throttled Eastern Kentucky, 97-45, in the first semifinal game on Friday,

After topping SIU Edwardsville in the opening round on Wednesday and Thursday's buzzer-beater win over No. 3 seed Tennessee Tech, Jax State's energy level had worn down as it was playing its third game in three days.  BU, who won the OVC East Division crown, had a double bye in the eight-team tournament format.  After starting the OVC slate with four losses, JSU finished the season winning ten of its last 15 games.

The Bruins started strong by racing out to a 9-0 lead before the Gamecocks registered their first points on a pair of Candace Morton free throws at the 15:39 mark of the opening half.  BU's Lauren Thompson hit a jumper with 12:35 left in the half to give her squad a 15-7 lead, but JSU went on a 7-0 run over the next three minutes to get within a point at 15-14.  That would be as close as JSU would get as the Bruins went on an 11-0 run to push the lead out to 12 points at 26-14 at the 6:06 mark of the half.  Belmont's Katie Carroll sparked the run and the Bruins' first half scoring attack with 17 of her 23 points in the opening period.  Carroll finished the day 8-of-14 from the field, including five from beyond the three-point arc.  JSU trimmed the deficit to single digits with just over two minutes left in the half before BU pushed it to a 12-point, 37-25 halftime lead.
For the second consecutive day, Jax State struggled from the field in the opening half as it connected on just 8-of-27 from the field.  The Gamecocks were two shot better in the second half to finish the contest shooting 32 percent from the field.  BU countered with a 40 percent shooting effort in both halves.

The Bruins maintained control of the affair in the second half as JSU attempted to make a few runs, but was thwarted by BU.  Belmont extended the lead out to 18 points at 50-32 with 12:12 left in the game and would eventually take its largest lead of 22 points at 56-34 at the 7:45 mark.
The Gamecocks were led by junior Candace Morton, who has paced the scoring attack throughout the 2013-14 season. 

Morton, who has now scored in double figures in 29 of the 32 games, matched her season's average with 16 points with seven coming from the free throw line.  The Lexington, Ky. guard, who was named Second Team All-OVC this season, will enter her senior season in the red and white needing just 65 points to reach the 1,000 career point mark.

Sophomore Destany McLin may have been JSU's most improved player from her freshman season to her sophomore campaign.  After averaging 5.5 points per game, the Athens, Ala.-native boosted that average to over 14 points a game and scored 31 points in the regular season finale against Belmont on March 1.  Jax State's third leading scorer, Miranda Cantrell was consistent throughout her junior season as she averaged double figures in the 32-game season. 

Freshman Briana Benson came on strong once conference play started as she scored in double figures in ten OVC contests.