VALDOSTA, Ga. - The 40th season of Lady Blazer basketball continues on Monday night with a Gulf South Conference matchup against the visiting Lady Hawks of Shorter University.
The Lady Blazers enter the contest with momentum after becoming the first team this season to defeat the Lady Flames of Lee University. The victory on Wednesday night at The Complex reestablished a winning record for VSU against league competition this season.
The Lady Blazer faithful that made up Wednesday night's crowd of over 300 enjoyed a defensive performance by VSU that allowed only three baskets in the final 13 minutes of the contest.
The lockdown effort, combined with strong shooting by
Amy Duke,
April Thomas, and
Imari Simpson allowed Valdosta State to reel off a 26-10 run in the closing minutes and score the huge victory.
Strong defense will need to continue tonight against the Lady Hawks, who are averaging just under 70 points per game on the young season. The scoring effort on the year closely resembles that of Valdosta State, who currently rank fourth in the GSC in scoring with an average of 69.7 points per game.
Valdosta State holds the advantage in terms of points allowed this year, as the Lady Blazers rank 5th in the league with 63.2 points allowed per game to make for a scoring margin of +6.4 points on the year.
In contrast, the Lady Hawks have struggled to slow the attack of the opposition and hold a -0.22 scoring margin after having allowed an average of 69.22 points per game on the year.
Thomas, Simpson, and Duke all rank among the top 20 scorers in the GSC and have helped the Lady Blazers establish themselves as the second best shooting team in the league in terms of field goal percentage. VSU's 45 percent shooting effort from the field this year ranks second to the No. 19 Union Lady Bulldogs, who edge out the Lady Blazers by a slim margin with a shooting percentage of 45.7 from the field this year.
In contrast, the Lady Hawks rank fourth in the league with a 40.8 field goal shooting percentage. Shorter has shown the ability to shoot the three ball well with a percentage of 34.2 from beyond the arc. The number ranks the Lady Hawks fourth in the GSC in the category and places SU two spots higher than the Lady Blazers, who rank sixth in the GSC with a 31.3 percentage from the three point line.
Monday night's action is scheduled to tip off at 6:00 p.m. and can be followed live via live stats, live video, and live audio, all available right here at www.vstateblazers.com.
