NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team came up short in its 2019 Ohio Valley Conference opener on Thursday night, falling 66-52 to Belmont on the road at the Curb Event Center.
 
The loss drops JSU to 6-6 overall and 0-1 to begin OVC play. The Gamecocks were looking to end BU's historic conference win streak which improved to 47-straight OVC wins for the Bruins who are now 8-4 and 1-0 in the OVC. The Gamecocks still haven't knocked off the Bruins on the road since 2003, and have just one win over the league's perennial power in the last 17 meetings.
 
Jax State improved its shooting percentage each period, but so did the Bruins who shot nearly 50-percent for the second half. A trio of Gamecocks finished in double figures led by redshirt-senior Destiney Elliott and freshman Yamia Johnson with 11 points apiece, followed by Taylor Hawks with 10. Elliott also grabbed seven boards behind only senior Rayven Pearson's nine rebounds.
 
JSU led 6-5 midway through the opening quarter, but the Bruins closed the period with a 12-8 advantage. An early three by Hawks in the second evened the score at 12-all as JSU started with a 7-0 run to grab a 15-12 advantage. After buckets from Brianna Perry and Brittany Webster, the Gamecocks had their largest lead of the game at 21-15 with 3:25 remaining until halftime. Unfortunately, much like in the first, BU closed out the period with a strong run to score the final 11 points to lead 26-21 at intermission.
 
After a defensive first half, the offenses warmed up in the second half. BU's Ellie Harmeyer had two of her game-high 23 points to start the third and give the Bruins a 28-21 lead before Johnson hit her first triple of the game to cut the deficit back to four. From there, the two squads traded deep balls as Harmeyer responded with another triple only to be answered by a three-pointer from Elliott on JSU's next possession. BU's Maddie Wright then drained a long ball to make it 34-27, only to have Johnson sink another trey pull back within four once more.
 
Jayla Walker's three-pointer with under two minutes to play in the quarter pulled JSU within two at 42-40 momentarily before the hot-shooting Bruins found their range again to take a 47-40 lead into the fourth. The deficit grew to double-digits early in the fourth for JSU, and increased to 60-45 by the final media break. A deep three from BU's Darby Maggard, who finished with 19 points, ended any shot at a late comeback for the Gamecocks.
 
JSU will stay in Nashville as it prepared to face Tennessee State at 3 p.m. on Saturday at TSU's Gentry Center.