NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team fell on the road to Belmont Thursday afternoon, 54-53, in a battle between the top two defenses in the Ohio Valley Conference.
 
The Gamecocks (12-7, 9-6 OVC) saw their four-game winning streak snapped as a last-second shot banged off the rim to keep BU undefeated against JSU inside the Curb Event Center. The Bruins (13-5, 10-3 OVC) held on for a third-straight win and remain in second place in the league standings.
 
After a back-and-forth game, BU's Jamilyn Kinney buried a deep three-pointer just trying to beat the shot clock, handing the Bruins a four-point lead in the final minute. JSU's Taylor Hawks would answer with a clutch trey of her own on the following possession to cut it back to one with 35 ticks left on the clock. After the Gamecocks had a great defensive stand on the next-to-last possession, they regained possession for one final attempt with under four seconds remaining. Senior Kiana Johnson cut from the top of the key toward the paint for a pull-up jumper as time expired, but the attempt was just off.
 
Hawks finished with 11 points and three assists. She passes former Gamecock all-american Lisa Baswell (1998-00) for the sixth-most double-digit scoring games at JSU after her 55th game with 10 or more points. Junior Yamia Johnson led all Gamecock scorers with 15, while freshman Keiara Griffin and sophomore Winnie Kuimi grabbed team-high seven rebounds each.
 
Both sides exchanged early baskets to stay even throughout the opening quarter. After a 14-14 tie, Belmont scored the final six points of the opening quarter to take a 20-14 lead into the second. JSU kept pace again in the second and had the deficit down to one following a fastbreak layup from Kiana Johnson. The Bruins would add a pair of free throws just before the half for a 31-28 score at the halfway mark.
 
With BU up 37-32 midway into the third, a pair of triples from Yamia Johnson bookended a layup from Kennedy Gavin for an 8-0 run that pushed JSU ahead by three. The Gamecocks would manage just one more basket in the period and head to the final stanza down 46-42.
 
For the first five minutes of the fourth, JSU held Belmont scoreless while slowly tacking on baskets for a quiet 8-0 run, six of which came from Kuimi in the paint. The Bruins ragined the lead, 51-50, with less than two minutes to play, and with under 60 seconds remaining Kinney sank her desperation three to make BU's cushion four before the final sequence of events.
 
JSU remains in Nashville as it gets set to face Tennessee State on Saturday at 1 p.m.