JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team brought life back to Pete Mathews Coliseum on Saturday afternoon in a thrilling 61-55 overtime win over Georgia State that saw JSU score four points in the final five seconds just to force the extra period.
 
In the first event back at Pete Mathews Coliseum since the March 19 tornado that hit JSU's campus, the Gamecocks' pulled off a remarkable comeback for their fourth-straight win, and third in a row that came after Jax State trailed at halftime. JSU improved to 6-3 with its first win over the Panthers (4-4) since both schools were Atlantic Sun Conference foes in 2003.
 
After GSU hit a pair of free throws with 7.3 second remaining to take a 49-45 lead, the Gamecocks advanced the ball to the front court with a timeout. The long inbounds from the sideline wing found redshirt-junior Chloe Long open underneath the basket for a quick layup where she drew a foul and went to the stripe. JSU missed six free throws total for the day, but Long's miss with five seconds on the clock ricochet right to senior Rayven Pearson who managed to get the ball up and in for the tying bucket with 0.9 remaining.
 
Pearson would foul out in the overtime period finishing with eight points and five boards. Jax State was paced offensively by freshman Yamia Johnson's 18 points and redshirt-senior Destiney Elliott's 12. Elliott also led with eight boards as JSU outrebounded the Panthers 47-36. It looked as though turnovers were going to doom the Gamecocks who matched a season-worst with 22. However, a scrappy squad held tough despite trailing for more than 26 minutes for the second-straight game and came away with another victory.
 
JSU led 12-6 with two minutes to play in the opening period when GSU began an 13-0 that last nearly nine minutes of game time until nearly halftime. JSU's first points of the second quarter came much-needed three-pointer by Elliott with 3:37 on the clock. The Gamecocks managed to trim the deficit to 21-19 heading into the locker room.
 
Midway through the third, Long found Brittany Webster down low for a shuffle pass that led to a layup to pull JSU within two at 30-28, but the Panthers extended the margin back out to six before the end of the period. A big three by Johnson with 4:58 remaining in the fourth evened the score at 43-43. After being all tied at 45-all, JSU couldn't find another basket as GSU slowly built what became a late four-point lead that appeared insurmountable – before Long's late layup in the clsing seconds.
 
In overtime, the two squads continued to battle it out trading leads before shifty spin by Johnson allowed the Lexington, S.C., native, to put JSU ahead for good at 57-56 with 36 seconds left. Long provided a cushion with a pair of free throws at 21 seconds, While JuToreyia Willis sealed the deal with two more free ones with three ticks remaining.
 
The Gamecocks snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Atlanta-based Sun Belt opposition, and are now 14-4 in their last 18 games inside Pete Mathews Coliseum. Next up, the Redhawks of Miami (Ohio) make a visit to The Pete at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday, December 18.