JACKSONVILLE – Senior Tasha Magruder notched her first double-double in a Gamecock uniform, and freshman Taylor Hawks led with 15 points as the Jacksonville State women's basketball team won its seventh-straight home game of the season to improve to 5-1 in Ohio Valley Conference action.
 
JSU (11-6, 5-1 OVC) led wire-to-wire for the second-consecutive game, topping Austin Peay (10-7, 3-3 OVC) in a 65-47 decision on Saturday afternoon. The win maintained JSU's second-place spot in the league standings, and matches the longest home-winning streak since 2003-04.
 
Senior Gretchen Morrison joined Hawks and Magruder in double figures with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Magruder finished with 10 points and 11 boards, while junior Rayven Peason worked the glass for 10 rebounds for her 10th game of double-digit boards this season. In reserve, Chloe Long and Tyler Phelion pitched in six points apiece.
 
Morrison started the scoring with a triple in the first minute, before Magruder went to work with six-straight points, all from the inside. Morrison then hit her second of four treys on the day to make it 12-5 with 4:37 remaining in the first period. JSU used an 8-0 run that stretched into the second quarter to take a 21-9 advantage, before APSU used a timeout to slow things down. The lead grewt to as many as 15 in the opening half as Hawks hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to send JSU to the half up, 36-21.
 
JSU continued its momentum early into the third period, extending the margin out to 50-27 before the Gamecocks ran into a three-minute scoring-drought that saw the Govs make an 8-0 run to cut the deficit back to the halftime difference at 15.
 
Despite shooting just 2-of-11 from the free throw line in the fourth, the Gamecocks managed to make timely baskets to keep APSU from ever getting within 13 points of the lead. Morrison's final three-pointer of the day made it 59-43 with just over three minutes remaining. JSU reached the 60-point barrier in the final minutes, and moved to 9-0 when scoring at least that much.
 
The Gamecocks will take their 5-1 conference mark on the road next weekend to the Bluegrass State with meetings against Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky, two squads JSU already beat at home to begin league play.