CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Jacksonville State's women's basketball team fell Saturday afternoon, 62-54, to Southeast Missouri on the road inside the Show Me Center.
The Gamecocks (8-6, 5-5 Ohio Valley Conference) are now 2-12 in their visits to Cape Girardeau, Mo., and may not return for a while with the upcoming conference change to the ASUN. SEMO (11-7, 9-4 OVC) moves to fourth in the league standings by percentage with the win.
For the first time all season JSU failed to hold the lead at anytime, despite a trio of Gamecocks in double figures. Meanwhile, SEMO's Tesia Thompson, the OVC's second-leading scorer, posted a game-high 26 points for the Redhawks.
Taylor Hawks and
Yamia Johnson led JSU with 13 points apiece. For Hawks, a career-high 10 rebounds meant her first ever double-double in 105 games for the Red and White. The Gainesville, Ga., native, will enter Tuesday's home game just eight points away from 1,000 for her career.
Senior
Jessie Day also finished in double figures with 10 points to go along with eight boards. Hawks and
Kennedy Gavin led with 10 rebounds each as the Gamecocks racked up a season-high 50 rebounds overall. Unfortunately, 22 of those came from the offensive glass as JSU connected on just 18 of its 62 shots from the floor.
A slow start put JSU down 9-2 in the early minutes, but Johnson cut it back to four following an old fashion three-point conversion. The margin stayed between four and eight points for virtually the entire game.
SEMO led 37-29 at the half, but a steal by Hawks and and a fastbreak layup 10-4 start to the third for JSU to pull within two at 41-39 midway through the period. After the Redhawks built the cushion back to eight at 47-39 entering the final quarter, JSU regrouped for one last charge.
After a layup by Johnson and four free throws early in the period for Hawks, JSU had the game back within a score at 47-45 with just under eight minutes remaining. Although JSU would go 11-of-14 from the charity stripe in the final 10 minutes, it made only two baskets during the final stanza, allowing the host Redhawks to pull away late.
Having lost six of its eight road games this season, Jax State returns home, where it's a perfect 6-0, on Tuesday evening to host Morehead State at 6 p.m. in a makeup contest from last weekend's original slate of games.
