TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team came away with a statement win in its 2018-19 season opener at Florida A&M on Tuesday night.
 
JSU (1-0) doubled-up the Lady Rattlers (0-1), 62-31, to earn its first season-opening win over another Division I opponent since 2006. The Gamecock defense that has led the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring defense each of the past four seasons held FAMU to just seven points in each of the first three periods. The 31 points allowed sets a Division I school record for fewest points allowed to another Div. I opponent. The Gamecocks held Alabama A&M to just 33 last season, and Southeast Missouri to 34 in 2016.
 
Senior Rayven Pearson scored a team-high 14, and sophomore Taylor Hawks poured in 12 points to lead JSU's offense. Pearson also collected 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season and 12th of her career. Chloe Long and Brianna Perry each had seven points after starting the opener, Perry also recorded a team-best three steals.
 
Redshirt-senior Destiney Elliott got the nod to start in her red and white debut. She finished 4-for-4 from the stripe picking up six points and six boards in 22 minutes. In all, five players made their Gamecocks debuts on Tuesday including Jessie Day, Brittany Webster, JuToreyia Willis and Yamia Johnson.
 
The two teams felt each other out during most of the first quarter. Elliott's drive to basket in the closing seconds allowed JSU to take on two late free throws to lead 13-7 after the opening quarter. It was more than two minutes into the second before Hawks hit a three to make it 16-7, and a layup by Webster quickly gave JSU its first double-digit lead.
 
The Gamecocks led 24-14 at halftime with the Rattlers shooting just 15 percent from the field at intermission. FAMU finished the night shooting 19.6 percent compared to JSU's 37.9 mark.
 
Similar to its preseason exhibition, JSU separated from its competition in the third putting up a 20-point frame while once again limiting FAMU to only seven points. A 12-3 run midway through the fourth handed JSU a 30-point advantage with 4:20 to play. The Gamecocks managed to hold a similar margins the rest of the way as it cruised toward the first win of the year.
 
JSU returns home before heading out for its next game at Texas Tech on Friday. The meeting in Lubbock will be the season-opener for the Red Raiders.