VALDOSTA, Ga. - Following a challenging road stint to open up Gulf South Conference play last week, the Valdosta State Lady Blazers return to the Complex on Wednesday night to face the visiting Lee Flames of Cleveland, Tenn..
The Lady Blazers (5-3, 1-1) will aim to be the first team to solve Head Coach Marty Rowe's squad this season, as Lee (5-0, 2-0) brings a perfect record to Valdosta.
Wednesday night's game will be the first road contest of the season for Lee, however, and the Lady Blazers have fared well at home so far this year with a 4-1 record at The Complex.
In order to put a chink in the armor of the Lady Flames, Valdosta State will need to penetrate a stingy Lee defense that has held opponents to an average of 55.8 points per game, nearly 15 points fewer than the average number of points per game scored by the Lady Blazers this year (70.3).
Expect VSU's attack to revolve heavily around the red hot
Imari Simpson, a junior transfer from Northwest College that has reached double-digits in five of VSU's eight games. The opening week of GSC play last week was equally impressive for Simpson, as she posted 16 points against North Alabama and racked up a team-high 17 points against the Chargers of Alabama-Huntsville to help the Lady Blazers land their first league victory of the year.
A big part of Lee's success this season has come from their ability to deny shot attempts. 11 players on the roster have registered at least one block, three players have denied five or more shots, and after five games played, the team is averaging an astounding 6.2 blocks per game.
The defensive accomplishments of the Lady Flames should make for a fun matchup against a Lady Blazer offense that has shown some impressive accuracy in recent days. Against North Alabama less than one week ago, VSU posted a 54 percent shooting effort from the field and a 33.3 percentage from beyond the arc. The sharpshooting continued in Saturday's GSC win over Alabama-Huntsville when VSU lit it up from long range, shooting 9-of-17 from three point range for a percentage of 52.9 percent.
Wednesday's game marks the first Gulf South Conference matchup to take place within walls of The Complex this season and is slated for a 6:00 p.m. start. Tickets will be available at the gate, and those who can't make it to the game can watch or listen live via the links below or by visiting www.vstateblazers.com. Fans can also follow the Lady Blazers (@VSULadyBlazers) and Blazer Athletics (@BlazerAthletics) on Twitter for all things Lady Blazer basketball.
