JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team made 41 field goals Thursday night in a 97-65 rout of Ohio Valley Conference foe, Murray State, to move to 4-1 in league play.
The Racers (5-11, 1-4 OVC) lead the all-time series, 17-6, after 23 meetings, but the Gamecocks have turned the tides lately winning four of the last five meetings under head coach
Rick Pietri. Thursday's win propelled the Gamecocks (10-6, 4-1 OVC) to their seventh home win of the season.
In a rare feat, six Gamecocks reached double figures scoring, led by senior
Tyler Phelion's 15. Junor
Rayven Pearson put up 14 points. Both Phelion and Pearson finished with double-doubles with 10 and 11 boards, respectively. Senior
Ki-Ki Patterson added 12 off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting, followed by a trio of Gamecocks with 11 points in
Gretchen Morrison,
Kiana Johnson and newcomer
Brianna Perry, who was 4-for-4 from the field in her only action in the fourth quarter.
Jax State shot above 50 percent (54.7%) for the first time since last season's conference opener on the road at UT Martin in what was a 94-83 setback for JSU. This time, JSU finished with its largest margin of victory over a Division I opponent in 84 games, since a 70-34 win over Southeast Missouri on Jan. 14, 2015.
JSU bookended the contest with a pair of 28-point quarters. The first quarter opened 8-0 in favor of the Gamecocks, forcing MSU to take a timeout less than three minutes into the game. The lead reached double-digit for the first time at 21-9 following one of three first-quarter triples by Morrison. The Racers were limited to just nine points in the opening period, putting the visitors in a hole the rest of the way.
A 15-0 run for JSU spanning into the second quarter gave the Gamecocks a 31-9 advantage. That turned to a 48-26 margin by halftime.
The Racers kept with JSU throughout the third period, but were outmatched once again in the fourth as JSU stretched the lead to 30 on a jumped by Patterson with seven minutes remaining. Even digging deep into the bench didn't fault the Gamecocks who outscored MSU's bench by 41, 49-8.
MSU still shot 41 percenet, led by Ke'Shunan James' 29 points. Brianna Crane pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.
JSU puts its 4-1 conference mark to the test against on Saturday when Austin Peay arrives at Pete Mathews Coliseum for a 2 p.m. contest.
