JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Courtney Strain scored 18 points, and Jacksonville State made nine 3-pointers to post a 78-52 women's basketball victory over Georgia Southern Tuesday night in Pete Mathews Coliseum.

Patrice Butler scored a career-high 17 points to lead the Eagles (2-4) and added a career-high nine rebounds. Briana Jones netted 10 points, and Anna Claire Knight scored eight.

Strain hit three triples for Jacksonville State (5-1), and Candace Morton tallied 14 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Miranda Cantrell collected 12 points and seven rebounds, while Briana Benson added 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

The Eagles struggled from the field, shooting 32 percent for the game and 29 percent in the second half. Georgia Southern cut a 10-point deficit to seven early in the second half, but Morton got free for two triples in transition and Strain added a third in an 11-0 Gamecock run that made the score 48-30.

"I thought we started off very well defensively, especially in the half court, and I thought we got exactly the shots we wanted to get offensively, we just didn't shoot the ball well in the first half," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "In the second half, we still weren't finishing the looks that we wanted, and then we tensed up and started pressing a little bit. We let them get loose, and they are a good shooting team. Once that lead gets pushed out to 12 or 14 points, the basket gets a whole lot bigger for them." 

The Eagles got the margin down to 14 points several times over the next seven minutes, but that was as close as they would get. After Butler made a layup to cut the margin to 60-46 with 9:36 left, JSU used an 18-2 run to put the game away.

After a pair of Knight free throws in the first half made the score 19-17 in favor of the Gamecocks, Jacksonville State used a 9-4 run to open a 28-21 lead on a Cantrell turnaround jumper.  A Jones jumper cut the margin to 32-27 with 2:38 left, but JSU capped the half with five straight points, the last coming on a Strain 3-pointer, and the Gamecocks led 37-27 at halftime. 

"We struggled for a segment of the first half with transition defense, and I thought our kids responded and did a much better job for the rest of the half," said Vozab. "In the second half, their transition game got them going and helped them push the lead out."

The Eagles return to action at home Saturday afternoon against Mercer in Hanner Fieldhouse. Fans can bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate to Toys for Tots and receive a $5 general admission ticket to the game (limit one ticket per toy).

Tipoff for the game featuring the longtime rivals is set for 4:30 p.m. It's the 62nd meeting between the two programs, which first met in the 1973-74 campaign, and it's the final home contest of the calendar year for the Eagles.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, call 1-800-GSU-WINS or visit GSEagles.com.