Box Score MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team was denied a fourth-straight win on Saturday afternoon in an 85-82 setback inside Johnson Arena on the campus of Morehead State.
 
JSU (13-15, 6-10 OVC) had rallied in the final month of the season with three-straight wins heading into the season finale on the road. A win could have potentially earned JSU a postseason berth in the conference tournament with a little help from other teams, however that didn't occur given the results from other OVC games.
 
The win for Morehead State (21-8, 11-5 OVC) secured the Eagles' second-place spot in the final standings. MSU needed every one of its nine made three-pointers to top the Gamecocks as both teams shot above 50 percent for the day.  
 
Senior standout Briana Benson closed her sensational career with a game-high 21 points. In the process, she moved to seventh on JSU's all-time scoring list with 1,198 career points for the Red and White, and took sole possession of ninth all-time on the OVC's three-pointer list with 213 triples. Fellow seniors Lacey Buchanon and Kelly Naughton also saw their Jax State careers wrap up. Buchanon scored 11 and added a pair of steals, while Naughton tallied two points in her final start.
 
In what's typically a defensive struggle for both sides when Jax State takes the court, this afternoon turned quickly into an offensive shootout. The Gamecocks matched a program record for shooting percentage in a half going 16-of-26 (61.5) in the first 20 minutes to match the previous mark set in January of 2005 against Auburn.
 
Trailing 27-33 with 4:41 to play in the first half, Leag Strain was left open for a big three which sparked a 13-0 run over the next few minutes to build a seven-point cushion just before halftime. Strain was a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor finishing with nine points. The Eagles capitalized on a rare 4-point-play with less than a minute remaining in the first half to pull back within three at the break, 42-39.
 
In the third, the Gamecocks were able to stretch their lead out to as many as 12 at the 4:31 mark of the period. The margin was cut back to four in the closing seconds before Rayven Pearson had to heave her only three-point attempt of the season up at the buzzer which found the bottom of the net to make it 64-57 after three quarters of play.
 
The Eagles quickly evened things up in the final quarter at 66-all with just over seven minutes remaining. MSU's first lead came at 75-73 and later stood at 81-77 with 1:25 left on the clock. After both sides exchanged a free throw, Benson was fouled driving to hoop which added two more free ones for JSU to pull with two, 82-80 with 34 ticks left. MSU added another free throw to go up three with 12 seconds left as the Gamecocks came back down the court for one last try. Buchanon recovered a lose ball knocked out of Benson's hands and turned to fire the game-tying attempt which bounced off the rim just as the final horn sounded.
 
JSU's season comes to a close with the loss. Head coach Rick Pietri will move into 2017-18 without a pair of 1,000-point scorers which in Benson and the injured Destany McLin, a primary ball-handler in Buchanon and a four-year starter in Naighton. Along with McLin, The Gamecocks lost Chloe Long and Ki-Ki Patterson to season-ending injuries early on and recovered to win three more games than the season prior.