MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team dropped its opening game of Ohio Valley Conference play, 67-48, on the road to Morehead State at Johnson Arena on Thursday afternoon.
 
The Gamecocks (4-8, 0-1 OVC) trailed by just two at the half, but a backbreaking 15-0 start for MSU (5-8, 1-0 OVC) to begin the third quarter took the energy out of the building for the Red and White.  
 
Junior Taylor Hawks led the Gamecock offense with a hard-earned 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting and four additional free throws. Sophomore Yamia Johnson returned for her most action since mid-November to also finish in double figure with 10 points off the bench. Eight Gamecocks in all found the basket offensively, but struggled to score consistently.
 
After a back-and-forth first half that saw eight lead changes, Jax State went to the locker room down just 25-23 after the opening 20 minutes of action.
 
The Eagles shot 61.5-percent from the field in the third period, a game best, en route to 26 points in the quarter while JSU was turned away again and again. A six and a half minute scoring drought for JSU to begin the second half was snapped by one of McKenna Lawrence's two treys of the game.
 
MSU grew the lead to 22 at 54-32 early in the fourth, before the Gamecock worked  to cut into the margin late. An offensive putback from Chloe Long made it 20 again, and a few possessions later Johnson hit a three to bring the deficit to 16 with 6:28 remaining. A run out layup fed by Hawks to Jessie Day brought the margin down to 13 at 56-43, but it would be as close as the Red and White could get in the final minutes.
 
JSU won the turnover battle 12-17, but 45 Eagle rebounds, including 11 on the offensive end led to 10 second-chance points for MSU who were led by Jaleesa Avery as one of three players with 10-or-more points.
 
The Gamecocks continue the OVC Bluegrass Tour with a visit to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday afternoon at 1 ET/12 CT. Both sides will be looking to bounce back after the Colonels fell 60-42 to Tennessee Tech on Thursday night in their conference opener.