JACKSONVILLE – In game No. 22 of the season, the Jacksonville State women's basketball team fell at home for the first time all season following a strong second-half surge by visiting Murray State.
 
JSU (14-8, 11-7 Ohio Valley Conference) entered the night tied for the 16th-longest active home win streak in the nation with 11 straight wins dating back to last season. The last Gamecocks loss at Pete Mathews Coliseum came more than a year ago on Feb. 22, 2020 to UT Martin.
 
On Thursday, the Racers (14-10, 11-8 OVC) fired off 53 second-half points to rally from a double-digit halftime deficit to defeat JSU, 78-75. It marked just the 10th time in 230 games of the Rick Pietri era where the Gamecocks have lost despite scoring 70-or-more.
 
Junior Yamia Johnson paced the Gamecocks with her fifth 20-point performance of the season. Senior Taylor Hawks added 17 points, while Keiara Griffin and Jessie Day pitched in eight apiece. Day and Hawks finished with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively, marking Hawks' second-career double double.
 
After trailing early, a 9-0 run for JSU forced a MSU timeout midway through the opening quarter with the Gamecocks on top, 14-9. JSU led by six at the end of the first quarter, and built its lead to double digits by halftime with a 35-25 edge.
 
JSU allowed just 25 points in the first half, however the OVC's top scoring defense allowed the Racers to put up 26 in the third quarter alone. The margin was still 10 with three minutes left in the period, 50-40, when MSU began its late charge.
 
The Racers ended the third on an 11-4 run, and a basket to open the fourth cut it to a one-point game at 54-53. Winnie Kuimi had a second-chance bucket to slow MSU's run, but the Racers continued full-speed with another 7-0 stretch for its first lead since 9-7 in the first quarter. At the height of MSU's run the Racers led by eight with four minutes to play, outscoring JSU 42-24 in the first 16 minutes of the second half.
 
Griffin put JSU back with five followed an old fashion three-point play, and a layup by Hawks with two minutes to play cut it to 69-67. It would be as close as JSU would get. The Racers led again by five in the closing seconds before a final triple from Hawks with 2.2 seconds left. MSU added a free throw on the other end to make it 78-75 and missed the second on purposed forcing a full-court heave by the Gamecocks.
 
JSU returns to The Pete on Saturday to host Austin Peay at 1 p.m. for what will be Senior Day for the Gamecocks before they learn their postseason matchup for next week's OVC Tournament in Evansville, Indiana.