Final Stats

JACKSONVILLE – Tennessee Tech used a 21-0 scoring run over the final minutes of the opening half and the first five minutes of the second half to secure a 79-63 win over Jacksonville State in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams.

The Gamecock women fall to 2-5 on the season and have dropped their last five games since opening the season 2-0. Tech improves to5-1 overall on the season.

In a back-and-forth contest in the first half, JSU led by as many as nine points at 17-8 with 13:09 left in the half, but TTU managed to take a brief 23-21 lead with just over five minutes left in the half. A lay up by Danielle Beneby gave Jax State a 30-25 advantage, but the momentum swung to the Golden Eagles as they would put up the final nine points of the first half to take a 34-30 lead into the halftime break.

TTU expanded the lead by way of the three-point shot as it drained four consecutive treys to give it the largest lead of the contest at 46-30 with 16:03 left in the game. JSU responded with a scoring run of its own thanks to trips to the free throw line. The Red and White shaved ten points off the deficit thanks to a 15-7 run over the next eight minutes. JSU got within six points at 52-46 on a Brittany Wiley free throw with 7:27 remaining. Tech had to stave off a late Jax State rally as it held a pair of five-point leads with just under three minutes left in the game.

Beneby turned in a career-high 21 point effort in the setback. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-native connected on 9-of-13 from the field and pulled down five rebounds. The senior guard was also credited with four of the team's ten steals. Brittany Manning registered a career-high 15 points and was a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. For the fifth consecutive game, sophomore Danielle Vaughn finished with double figures in the scoring column. The Huntsville, Ala. post player tallied 10 points. Wiley led the squad in rebounds with seven.

JSU took advantage of the paint, scoring 42 of its 63 points in the lane. Tech turned the Gamecocks over 19 times and turned them into 22 points.

TTU's Tacarra Hayes led all scorers with 31 points along with a securing a double-double with 10 rebounds. Kylie Cook finished with 15 points – all coming from behind the three-point arc.

JSU will break for semester finals this week before taking to the road again against nationally-ranked Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. on Sunday, Dec. 12. Tip off is set for 1 p.m. CST and will be televised by Fox Sports South Florida.