JACKSONVILLE – A rough afternoon that featured severe thunderstorms outside of Pete Mathews Coliseum, also turned into a tough finish for Jacksonville State's women's basketball team on the inside who fell to visiting Austin Peay.
 
The Gamecocks (6-9, 2-2 Ohio Valley Conference) fell for the first time in three games, while the Lady Govs (10-5, 1-3 OVC) picked up their first conference win of the season in a fourth-period comeback.
 
Junior Kiana Johnson led JSU's offense with 11 points on her birthday. The Gamecocks displayed a balanced offensive attack with all 10 players reaching the scoring column. Behind Johnson, juniors Taylor Hawks and Jessie Day each had eight. Defensively, redshirt-senior Chloe Long pasted double-digit rebounds for the third-straight contest setting a new career-high with 16.
 
Tied 14-all after the opening quarter, APSU hit a couple of threes early in the second to open a 22-16 lead. The Lady Govs would soon grab their largest lead of the day at 31-24, before McKenna Lawrence drained one of her two treys of the game. Johnson would add a pair of free throws just before the half to pull Jax State back within two at the intermission break, 33-31.
 
JSU started strong in the second half with immediate baskets from Day and Yamia Johnson to jump in front for the lead and force APSU to take a timeout 58 seconds into the third quarter. The Gamecocks maintained a slim lead until Destiney Elliott's three late in the period made it a five-point contest at 48-43.
 
Jax State entered the final period with a 50-47 advantage, but a three-minute scoring drought to begin the final stanza kept the Gamecocks from putting the visitors away for good. Still a three-point game at the 6:00 mark, consecutive field goals for the Govs sent APSU up by one at 53-52. Another three minutes would erase from the game clock before either team scored again when Hawks and APSU's Kasey Kidwell exchanged layup to keep the margin the same with just over two minutes to go.
 
A bad inbounds pass led to a runout layup for APSU's Arielle Gonzalez-Varner, who finished with nine points, and soon saw the visitors on top, 59-54. JSU's struggles from behind the arc continued in the closing minutes while the Govs hit late free throws to lock down the final 63-57 result.
 
JSU was outrebounded 41-33, despite Long's sensational efforts on the glass, and the split continues with JSU 0-9 when losing the battle on the boards, and 6-0 in all other games.
 
Conference play continues next weekend when the Gamecocks make the Illinois road swing in the league with stops at Eastern Illinois and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.