JACKSONVILLE – It was another tough one to swallow for the JSU women's basketball team Wednesday night as Ohio Valley Conference leader Belmont kept its perfect record intact with a game winning shot in the closing seconds.
 
JSU (8-10, 1-5 OVC) dropped a second straight game to an opponent draining a game-winning shot on the final possession. Five days ago it was Tennessee Tech with three seconds to play, tonight; it was Belmont (15-5, 7-0) with 11 ticks left on the clock. Gamecock high-scorer Lacey Buchanon had one last look at the basket as time wound down, but the shot was off the mark and despite contact, no call was made.
 
The Bruins entered Wednesday's contest as the league powerhouse, averaging more than 75 points per game and winners of 22 of their last 23 OVC games. But the Gamecocks held the Nashville-based squad to just 54 points and led for nearly three quarters of the night.
 
The 54-53 final becomes the latest hard loss for the Gamecocks who have been in all of their league games this season, but instead own losses by one and two points, a double-overtime setback, and were denied a comeback win against Murray State after erasing a 23-point second-half deficit.
 
Buchanon's 16 points led the way for JSU and tied a game-high with Belmont's Kylee Smith. Tasha Magruder added 11 points in her second-straight double-digit scoring game. Magruder also hauled in eight boards, followed by Tyler Phelion's seven and Kelly Naughton's six.
 
The defensive struggle started early as JSU held the Bruins to a season-low six first-quarter points. Both teams picked up the pace in the following period to send the game to halftime, 28-24, in favor of the Red and White.
 
The game was tied for more than seven minutes overall, but the Gamecocks looked poised to break away grabbing a game-high seven-point lead early in the fourth. However, Belmont rallied with a 9-0 run to take a 48-46 lead with 3:46 remaining. The two exchanged buckets leaving JSU with a 53-52 lead as Belmont inbounded with 26 seconds to play. BU's Smith hit the most important of her 16 points with 11 seconds to go for the eventual game-winner.
 
JSU head to Tennessee State this Saturday for a 5:30 tip-off against the Tigers.