COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Sophomore Briana Benson ended Tennessee Tech's season last year with a buzzer beater in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, on Saturday evening she poured in a season-high 20 points to lead Jacksonville State to a 70-54 win at the Eblen Center on the TTU campus.

The 16-point win pushes JSU to 16-7 overall and 7-4 in the OVC, while Tech falls to 5-19 overall and 2-9 against OVC competition.  The Gamecocks shook off a six-game losing streak to the Golden Eagles on their home floor and won for the first time in Cookeville since the 2006 season.  The double-digit win over TTU is the first one since a 10-point, 71-61 win at TTU in 2005.  JSU has carded three consecutive double figure wins for the first time since the 2003-04 season.  The win was also a milestone for second-year JSU Head Coach Rick Pietri.  It marked his 250^th career win on the collegiate level.

Jax State continued a recent trend of solid shooting offensively and lockdown defense on the other end.  By holding the Golden Eagles to 54 points, the Red and White have held its last three opponents to 55 points or less – the first time that has happened in the program's NCAA Division I era.  JSU held Eastern Kentucky to 53 points on Jan. 28 and limited Tennessee State to 50 points last week.

Benson, one of the top three-point threats in the OVC with 2.5 made three-point baskets in the first 10 conference games, bettered that average by matching her career high with five three pointers en route to a season-high 20 points.  The Jonesboro, Georgia-native finished the night 7-of-13 from the field and 5-of-9 from beyond the arc.  Benson reached double figures by halftime with 11 first-half points.  Since the Morehead State game, Benson is 15-of-33 from long range and averaging 3.7 treys per game over the four-game span.

Jax State maintained the advantage for over 38 minutes of the contest and built a double digit lead by the 9:43 mark after a three pointer by Courtney Strain.  Strain's bucket capped off a 16-5 scoring run after Tech held its last lead at 6-5 early in the half.  The Golden Eagles strung together a scoring run to get with three points at 22-19 with 4:58 on the first half clock after a Samaria Howard jumper.  Howard led TTU with 16 points and 12 rebounds.  JSU would push the lead back out to 10 points on two occasions before the end of the half, including Benson's third three pointer of the half with 15 ticks on the game clock.  JSU would take a 34-26 lead in to the halftime break.

JSU had one if its better first half shooting performances as it knocked down 52 percent from the field, while limiting Tech to 11-of-29 from the field. 

Tech quickly got back in the contest with an 11-6 spurt to get within three at 40-37 at the 15:23 mark.  JSU responded with a 13-0 run to extend the lead out to 16 points at 53-27 after a McLin field goal.  For the second consecutive game, the Athens, Alabama-native was hard to stop in the second half.  After being held to four points and five rebounds in the first 20 minutes, she posted six points and eight rebounds to record her sixth double-double of the season and eighth of her career with 10 points and 13 rebounds – all on the defensive end of the floor.

With the game in control, JSU pushed the lead out to 20 points at 66-46 with a pair of free throws by Candace Morton.  Morton would be the third Gamecock to hit double figures in the scoring column with 12 points.  The Lexington, Kentucky-product had seven of the 12 points in the second half.

JSU would finish the game shooting nearly 49 percent from the field, while clamping down defensively and holding Tech to 35 percent field goal shooting.  The shooting mark was the second-best of the season for JSU.  The season high was 49.1 against Wofford back in November.

The Gamecocks return home on Wednesday, Feb. 11 against the Bruins of Belmont.  Tip off at Pete Mathews Coliseum is set for 5:30 p.m. and will be the first game of a doubleheader with the JSU men.