JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Jacksonville State (12-14, 8-7) made 12 three-pointers and never trailed in a 72-51 win over Ohio Valley Conference co-leader Southeast Missouri (20-6, 12-3) Thursday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
JSU ended SEMO's season-long 11-game winning streak and handed the Redhawks only their second road loss in OVC play.
SEMO started slow missing its first seven field goals of the contest. The Redhawks went without a field goal for four or more minutes in each of the first two quarters.
JSU took advantage of SEMO's cold shooting and went on an 11-0 run before Jocelyn Taylor got the Redhawks on the board with a layup at the 4:55 mark of the first quarter.
The Gamecocks stretched their lead to 16 (24-8) on a 3-pointer by Nekiyah Thompson early in the second quarter and later led, 28-17, at the half.
SEMO scored a season-low 17 first-half points and shot just 21.4 percent (6-of-28) from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play.
The Redhawks, after dropping the third quarter by a 15-point margin (29-14) managed to outscore the Gamecocks, 20-15, in the final period.
JSU led by as many as 28 with 6:40 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Tesia Thompson led SEMO with 20 points and four rebounds. It was Thompson's fifth-straight game scoring 20 or more points and 16th-consecutive start scoring in double figures.
SEMO shot 32.2 percent (19-of-59) from the field for the game.
Yamia Johnson topped JSU with 16 points, while Destiney Elliott and Taylor Hawks followed with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Elliott and Hawks drained four 3-pointers each, as well.
For the game, the Gamecocks shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from beyond the arc.
SEMO heads to Tennessee Tech Saturday.
