Box Score ORANGEBURG, S.C. – The South Carolina State women's basketball team erased a 14-point first-half deficit to defeat Jacksonville State 55-52 at the S-H-M Memorial Center on Tuesday night.
Jacksonville State (6-3) led 21-7 after a pair of free throws by Destiny James with 6:46 left in the first half. But SC State (7-3) went on a 17-3 run to tie the game at 24-all with 32 seconds left in the opening period. The Gamecocks regained the lead 24 seconds later on a jumper by Courtney Strain to take a 26-24 lead into halftime.
The game was much closer in the second half with no team leading by more than eight points. A bucket by
Brittany Drumgoole at the 11:30 mark broke the third tie of the final period and gave the Lady Bulldogs a two-point lead (39-37).
A 3-pointer by Destany McLin put Jacksonville State up by one, but
Toni Grier hit a layup with 9:18 remaining to give SC State the lead for good. The Lady Bulldogs extended the lead to eight (48-40) after a basket by
Kourtney Williams with 3:54 left.
The Gamecocks got within one, 53-52, on a trey by McLin with 12 seconds left, but
Amber Howard knocked down two free throws to seal the win.
Courtney Strain led Jacksonville State with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. Candace Morton and Miranda Cantrell each grabbed a game-high seven boards. James passed out a game-high 10 assists.
For SC State, Williams dropped in 14 points, while
Jasmine Coleman had 10 points and a game-high three blocks. Williams, Grier and Coleman each had five rebounds.
The Lady Bulldogs hit the road for their final road game of 2014 when they travel to Clemson, S.C. to take on the Clemson Tigers. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.
