RICHMOND, Ky. – The Jacksonville State women's basketball picked up its 18^th win of the season after putting together a 46-point second half comeback to down Eastern Kentucky, 69-65, on Monday afternoon at McBrayer Arena on the EKU campus.

The 18^th win is the most for the program since the 2003-04 season and strengthens JSU's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament standing with a 9-6 league mark as it heads in to the regular season finale at Morehead State on Saturday.  The loss four-point loss eliminates the Colonels from postseason contention with a 9-15 overall mark and 4-10 in the league.  The win also marks the third consecutive over EKU since taking the final game of the 2010 season and sweeping the pair of 2011 games.  JSU won for the first time in Richmond since a 72-65 win over the Maroon and White in January of 2011.

The Gamecocks showed a lot of resolve throughout the contest as it trailed for over 28 minutes of the contest and needed a 31-12 scoring run in the second half to erase a 14-point EKU lead in the second half.  The Colonels took a 40-26 lead at the 13:02 mark after starting the second half on a 12-3 run to extend a 28-23 halftime lead.  Jax State, one of the top three-point shooting teams in the league, but has struggled over the last three games from outside the arc, connected on 7-of-15 from three-point range to spark the second half comeback.  During the Gamecocks' run, the Red and White had three treys from freshman Gretchen Morrison, Courtney Strain and Candace Morton.  Morrison, from Southlake, Texas, matched her career high with 12 points on 4-of-8 from three-point range. 

Junior Destany McLin, who shook off the last three games with not reaching double figures, scored 12 in the contest and grabbed 10 boards for her seventh double-double of the season, including a game-tying basket at 40-all at the 10:10 mark.  After McLin's jumper equalized for the fifth time at 46-all, Morton drained a trey to give JSU its first lead at 49-46 since they hit the game's first basket.  JSU would finish the final 8:21 by out-scoring the Colonels 23-19 to pick up its third consecutive OVC road win.  One key stat in JSU's favor was its ability to get offensive rebounds.  The Gamecocks were out-rebounded 25-20 in the first half, but finished with a 42-40 advantage on the boards.  JSU pushed the lead out to as many as eight in the final moments before taking a four-point win.

Morton, playing close to her Lexington, Kentucky home, led all JSU scorers with 16 points.  The senior guard posted 14 of her 16 in the second half.  She rebounded from a 0-for-7 from the field shooting start to finish 5-of-13 from the field, including a trio of treys.  Sophomore Briana Benson added nine points and a career-high 11 rebounds to aid Jax State's rebounding numbers. 

The Colonels were led by Shameekia Murray's game-high 19 points and Michaela Hunter's 16 points.  Shelly Harper added a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards.

The Gamecocks return to the Commonwealth of Kentucky on Saturday as they trek to Morehead, Kentucky for the regular season finale against the Eagles of Morehead State.  Tip off is set for 2 p.m. CST from Johnson Arena.  The women's contest will precede the JSU-MSU men's contest.