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JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team will bounce back into Ohio Valley Conference play as it faces Southeast Missouri on Sunday, Dec. 19 and Eastern Illinois on Tuesday, Dec. 21.

Tip off for the JSU-SEMO contest is set for 2 p.m. and will precede the men's contest at 4:30 p.m. JSU and EIU will tip at 7 p.m. Both games will be available on the Gamecock Sports Network. Tickets to both games can be purchased at the gate on gameday or at the JSU Athletic Ticket Office by calling 256-782-8499.

The pair of OVC match ups will wrap up the pre-holiday schedule for the Gamecocks, who look to snap a seven-game losing skid on Sunday against the Redhawks. Jax State enters the Sunday afternoon tilt at 2-7 on the season after falling to Georgia State on the road on Thursday in Atlanta, Ga. SEMO, idle since a 74-40 loss at nationally-ranked Green Bay last Friday, sports a 4-6 mark and 1-1 in league play. SEMO fell to Austin Peay before bouncing back to top Tennessee State in the opening weekend of OVC games in early December. JSU dropped its lone conference contest to Tennessee Tech, 79-63 on Dec. 4 at Pete Matthews Coliseum.

JSU's series with SEMO has been heavily favored for the Redhawks as they have claimed the last 12 meetings in the 13-game series. JSU routed SEMO 83-44 in the initial contest between the two programs in 2004. Last season, SEMO and JSU played a pair of tightly contested games as the difference was four points combined in the two meetings. The Redhawks edged Jax State 56-53 in Cape Girardeau, Mo. And turned back the Gamecocks 52-47 in Jacksonville.

Through the first nine games of the season, the Gamecocks are averaging 56.0 points per contest and have been strong on the backboards, pulling down 40.0 rebounds per game. JSU ranks among the OVC leaders in the rebounding department and has a +1.2 edge over the opposition on the glass. The squad leads the OVC in offensive rebounds, averaging 16.4 boards on the offensive end of the floor.

Individually, junior Brittany Wiley leads the JSU charge with 11.4 points per game. The Carrollton, Ga.-native posted 16 points in the setback at Georgia State and has six games in which she has reached double digits in the scoring column. Senior Danielle Beneby sports a team-best 6.1 rebounding mark on the season. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-native is just 16 rebounds shy of the 400-career rebounds plateau. Beneby finished with 11 points against GSU along with dishing out a season-best five assists. She was also credited with four steals.

SEMO is led by sophomore Brittany Harriel's 9.0 points per game average and her 6.2 rebounds per game. As a team, the Redhawks average 51.5 points per game and are allowing 60.7 points to the opposition.

Following the Christmas break, Jax State returns to Pete Matthews Coliseum to close out its homestand on Tuesday, Dec. 28 against Kennesaw State. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.