Head coach Deandra Schirmer begins her fifth season at the helm of the Lady Blazers in 2023-24. She has had outstanding success for VSU as she is 84-28 overall and 63-18 in Gulf South Conference play. Schirmer has guided VSU to three-straight NCAA postseasons, including the program's first Elite Eight since 1984 in 2021-22. Her teams have gone a combined 48-13 over the last two seasons and 37-6 in GSC play. Schirmer is 4-3 in the NCAA postseason in her three trips with VSU.
The 2022-23 season saw the Lady Blazers reach the NCAA postseason for the third-straight season as the team went 22-7 overall and a school-best 20-4 in Gulf South Conference play. VSU sophomore Taylor Searcey earned Second Team All-GSC honors for the season, while junior Tamiya Francis earned GSC All-Tournament accolades. VSU finished second in the GSC in scoring defense allowing 56.7 points per game for 18th nationally. The Lady Blazers tallied their second-straight season of 20 or more wins and 17th time in program history. The team won 13-straight games during the season from Nov. 19, 2022, to Jan 14, 2023 and finished tied for third with West Florida in the league standings.
Arguably one of the best seasons in program history and first Elite Eight appearance since 1984, the Lady Blazers went 26-6 in 2021-22 and 17-2 in GSC play. As the No. 7-seed in the NCAA South Regional, VSU won the regional advancing to the Elite Eight in Birmingham, Ala. There, seeded No. 4, the Blazers lost a heartbreaker to No. 5-seed Western Washington, 58-55, as WWU ended up losing in the national championship game. VSU finished the season fifth in the D2SIDA Top 25 and sixth in the WBCA Top 25. Graduate student Kwajelin Farrar earned WBCA First Team All-America honors for the second-straight season in 2021-22. In 2020-21, she became the first VSU honoree of the prestigious award since 1995. Schirmer and the Lady Blazers finished fourth nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 53.1 points per game to lead the GSC, while the team was 21st nationally and tops in the league in 3-point field goal defense at a .263 clip and was 26th nationally in field goal percentage defense at a .358 clip to lead the GSC.
The Lady Blazers finished 13th in the final Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25 to end the 2021 campaign. Schirmer improved her record to 36-15 overall and 26-12 in GSC play, while graduate transfer Kwajelin Farrar earned GSC East Division Player of the Year honors, multiple all-region honors and became the first Lady Blazer since 1995 to earn WBCA First Team All-America accolades in 2021. Farrar became the seventh Lady Blazer to earn WBCA All-America honors in program history. Farrar finished the season leading the team in scoring at 14.2 points per game. Farrar was 134 of 226 from the field for a 59.3 average from the floor for ninth nationally and second in the GSC. Her 134 field goals made were good for fourth in the GSC and 35th nationally, while her 11 double-doubles put her tenth nationally and third in the league. Her 9.7 rebounds per game put her 33rd nationally and sixth in the league. She had a team-high 23 blocks for the season in 22 games played and 22 starts. Schirmer earned GSC East Division Coach of the Year honors, going 18-4 overall and 16-2 in GSC play.
In her first season in Titletown, Schirmer guided the Lady Blazers to an 18-11 record overall and a 10-10 mark in Gulf South Conference play. Schirmer brought in a couple of key transfers this season in Cheray Saunders and Saniah Simpson-Patu. Schirmer's squad also had junior Kayla Bonilla who eclipsed the 1,000 career point mark as the 27th player in school history to do so. Schirmer had her biggest win of the season as the Lady Blazers upset then-No. 4-ranked Lee 74-68 on Dec. 17, 2019. Bonilla earned second team all-conference honors this season. As a team, VSU finished third in the league in free throws made (408) for 61st nationally and was fourth in the league in free throws attempted (576) for 74th nationally. The Lady Blazers also were fourth in 3-point field goal shooting at a 33.3 clip for 78th nationally. Schirmer guided the team to its fourth-straight appearance in the Gulf South Conference Tournament.
Valdosta State Athletic Director Herb Reinhard announced Saturday, May 3, 2019, the hiring of Deandra Shirmer as the next women’s basketball coach at VSU.
“I’m incredibly humbled by this opportunity to join the Valdosta State family,” Schirmer said. “It is very evident once you step on campus, that the supportive administration and community have been instrumental in developing the tradition of success here at Valdosta State. I want to express my sincerest appreciation to President Dr. Carvajal and Athletic Director Herb Reinhard for choosing me to be VSU’s head women’s basketball coach. I am eager to get started and continue building VSU into a national contender, while empowering these women to have success both on and off the court.”
Schirmer had been an assistant coach at Eckerd College in Florida for the past five years prior to coming to VSU and was elevated to Associate Head Coach in 2018. She also served as recruiting coordinator for the Tritons where her leadership and player development has helped produce the three most successful seasons in program history. Prior to Schirmer’s arrival at EC, the Tritons had not earned a NCAA postseason bid in the 32-year history of the program.
In 2016-17, the Tritons went 27-5 and claimed the program’s first Sunshine State Conference regular season and tournament championships, earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA South Region Tournament and hosted the South Region Tournament. In the regional, Schirmer helped guide the Tritons to the first NCAA tournament victory in program history.
In her first season at Eckerd in 2014-15, EC won 23 games and qualified for the South Region Tournament for the first time. Eckerd surpassed the 20-win mark in 2017-18, earning its third trip to the regional. This past season, Eckerd went 22-10 and earned a berth in its fourth regional in five years. Schirmer helped guide Eckerd to a 106-45 record during her time in St. Petersburg, Fla. Schirmer has worked under head coach Paul Honsinger who has been with the school for 13 years.
“I am excited to have Deandra join our VSU Athletic Department as our new Lady Blazer head coach,” Reinhard said. “Deandra has been an integral part of the success Eckerd has enjoyed in her five seasons there. Eckerd advanced to the NCAA Tournament four of the five seasons, and is considered to be one of the top programs in the Southeast. I am confident Deandra will build on the outstanding foundation of success we have with our women’s basketball program.”
Prior to Eckerd, Schirmer was a graduate assistant coach at Georgia State in 2013-14, after serving a role as Athletics Marketing Graduate Assistant at GSU.
She began her playing career at Cloud County Community College (Kan.), earning all-conference and all-region honors. While at Cloud County, she helped lead the team to a 26-7 record as a sophomore and was named Jayhawk Conference Western Division Second Team and was an all-region selection.
Schirmer then transferred to University of South Carolina-Aiken where the team finished eighth nationally in NCAA Division II her senior Year. She earned CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District First Team honors her senior year.
Originally from Holton, Kan., she was an all-state performer in basketball and volleyball in high school. Schirmer was a team captain for both sports and also lettered in cross country and softball, while receiving the prestigious Naismith Award.
Shirmer earned her bachelor’s degree from USCA in business marketing and earned a master’s degree of sports administration from Georgia State.
