JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team opened Ohio Valley Conference play with a convincing 65-51 win over Eastern Kentucky at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Thursday.
 
The Gamecocks (7-5, 1-0 OVC) snapped a two-game skid in the process of winning its first conference opener in three years. The win was the seventh for JSU in the last eight meetings against the Colonels from Richmond, Ky. EKU falls to 3-7 overall and begins league play with an 0-1 mark.
 
Freshman Taylor Hawks posted a career best with 18 points, going 8-of-9 from the stripe, and a perfect 2-for-2 from long distance. The Gainesville, Ga., native was joined in double figures by Tyler Phelion and Chloe Long, who scored 14 and 11, respectively. Junior Rayven Pearson once against led the battle at the glass with 12 rebound, but her seven points snapped a string of three-straight double-doubles.
 
JSU assisted on 15 of its 21 field goals, as the Gamecocks tallied their highest scoring output in eight games. The Jax State bench outscored the visiting bench, 35-9.
 
The Colonels opened the game with a quick 5-0 lead, but that would be just about all it got in the opening period as JSU closed on an 18-2 run to take an 11-point advantage into the second quarter. EKU would narrow the gap to six at one point, but the two sides eventually evened out to 14 points apiece in the frame to hand JSU the 32-21 halftime lead.
 
In the third, JSU widened its margin as Phelion had a span of six-straight points for the Gamecocks. As the quarter closed in on the two-minute mark, senior Gretchen Morrison would hit her only bucket of the contest to give JSU its largest lead of the night at 21, 47-26.
 
A layup by Jayla Walker early in the fourth saw the margin remain the same at 54-33. The Colonels mounted a late surge with a 13-4 stretch midway through the final period, but the deficit never reached single digits as JSU continued on to the 65-41 victory.
 
Jax State will play for a 2-0 league start on Saturday when it faces Morehead State at 2:00 p.m. at The Pete. The Gamecocks haven't won their opening two league contests since the 2007-08 season when they stole road wins at Samford and UT Martin to begin the conference slate.