JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State's women's basketball team will ring in the new year by opening Ohio Valley Conference play on Thursday and Saturday in the Music City of Nashville, Tennessee.
 
The Gamecocks (6-5) hit the ground running with one of the toughest tasks of the season in the league opener on Thursday at Belmont. The three-time defending conference champion Bruins enter Thursday's contest with a 7-4 overall mark, but are riding a 46-game conference win streak that dates back to February of 2016. The streak is the second-longest active win streak against conference opponents in the nation behind only Connecticut. JSU has consistently threatened to snap the streak, including the semifinal loss to nationally-ranked BU in last season's conference tournament where JSU held a late third-quarter lead. Jax State's 54-53 home loss on Jan. 18, 2017, remains the closest margin of victory during BU's historic stretch.
 
It's been since February of 2015 season the Bruins lost to an OVC foe on their home floor, and even longer since the Gamecocks earned a road win in Nashville which goes back to January 11, 2003. Belmont leads the overall series, 18-3, with JSU's most recent victory coming in overtime at home, 71-69, on March 1, 2014 in head coach Rick Pietri's first season at the helm.
 
Jax State is built as well as anyone to compete with the league's perennial power. While it was no surprise to see Belmont once again picked by both the media and coaches to repeat as OVC champs in the preseason polls, the new face near the top of the votes was JSU penciled in at No. 3 by the league's head coaches after a strong 12-6 OVC campaign last year.
 
First-year Gamecock and redshirt-senior Destiney Elliott leads JSU offensively averaging 12. 5 points per game, followed closely in double figures by senior Rayven Pearson after the Gamecocks didn't have anyone average more than 10 points a game all last season. With the scoring improved, JSU's staple defense is still intact allowing just 57.5 points per game by the opposition.
 
With regular starters Kiana Johnson and Rayven Pearson absent in their last game against Troy, JSU saw senior Brianna Perry (14), redshirt-sophomore Jessie Day (9) and junior Brittany Webster (7) each tally new season highs in points against the Trojans.
 
JSU and Belmont will tip at 5 p.m. from the Curb Event Center in Nashville on Thursday, with coverage available on ESPN+ and JSUGamecockSports.com.
 
Following the BU contest, JSU will remain in the Music City to face Tennessee State at 3 p.m. on Saturday, January 5. TSU enters OVC play winless with an 0-12 non-conference slate, but was well-tested in the first two months of the season with games against Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin and Louisville. The Lady Tigers open conference play against Tennessee Tech on Thursday prior to JSU's arrival.