CLEMSON, S.C. – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team came up short on the road to Atlantic Coast Conference foe Clemson in a 53-45 setback at Littlejohn Coliseum, Sunday afternoon.
The Gamecocks (6-4) fall to 1-3 on the road with another away contest coming against Georgia State on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Clemson (9-2) won over JSU by just single digits for the second year in a row after a 69-63 outcome last season.
Junior
Rayven Pearson picked up a double-double leading the Gamecocks in both scoring and on the boards with 14 points and 16 rebounds. The 16 boards set a new career mark for the Hazel Green, Ala., native, who had 13 earlier this season against Stillman. Freshman
Taylor Hawks also reached double figures scoring with 13 points to match her previous career high set against East Carolina. 11 of her points came in the first half.
Jax State led 6-4 early, before Hawks buried back-to-back triples to give JSU its largest lead of the game at 12-4 midway through the first. Scoring droughts plagued JSU in Sunday's action, and five minute one to close the opening period saw the Tigers reclaim the lead, 16-15, after one quarter.
While Clemson continued to shoot above 55 percent from the field in the second, JSU began to struggle allowed the home squad to grab its largest lead of the game at 10 points heading into halftime, 35-25.
In the third, JSU turned things around and eventually tied the game with an 18-point period. Pearson record six consecutive points early to cut the deficit to 41-35.
Gretchen Morrison would cap an 8-0 run with her only three-pointer of the day to even the score at 41 with 3:05 to go in the third. JSU would be unable to take the lead, but trailed by just four heading into the final quarter.
The final quarter proved to be the dagger for the Gamecocks who were unable to score in the opening eight minutes. Although JSU's defense limited their ACC opposition to just six points in the quarter, the offense was not able to get going finishing with its lowest scoring total in a span of 40 games.
JSU will wrap up its non-conference schedule at Georgia State on Tuesday. The 1 p.m. ET/noon CT tip-off will be the first meeting beteen the Gamecocks and Panthers since 2013. Live stats, audio and vido stream links will be available at JSUGamecockSports.com.
