LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The Valdosta State Lady Blazers continue Gulf South Conference play on the road this week with a Monday night matchup in Livingston, Ala. against the West Alabama Tigers.
Both teams will enter the contest looking to snap a recent slide, as Valdosta State (8-7, 4-5 GSC) has lost its last three contests, while the Tigers (6-7, 2-6 GSC) have fallen in two straight.
The Lady Blazers most recent loss came in a two-point heartbreaker to the West Georgia Wolves, a game in which VSU led their opponent in field goals, field goal percentage, and three point field goal percentage. Valdosta State shot nearly 50 percent from the field against the Wolves, but solid free throw shooting, along with an impressive rebounding effort by UWG prevented the Lady Blazers from claiming the victory.
The recent slide for Valdosta State has dropped the team to sixth place in the GSC standings. In order to right the ship, the Lady Blazers will need to deal with West Alabama's top scorer Britney McCloud. The senior is averaging 17.0 points per game, good for third place among all league scorers. McCloud has struggled a bit on offense as of late, however, and has failed to reach double-digit scoring figures in each of her last two contests.
For Valdosta State,
April Thomas returned to form in Saturday's loss to UWG, as the senior guard racked up 18 points on an 8-of-16 shooting performance to go along with four steals and two assists.
Thomas is likely anxious to compete again in Pruitt Hall Gymnasium. The last time the Bainbridge, Ga. native played in Livingston, Ala., she hit 6-of-7 attempts, five of which were three pointers. The effort resulted in 20 points for the Lady Blazers and helped lead VSU to a convincing 73-55 over the Tigers. That contest took place on February 6, 2014.
The Tigers are approaching the midway point of the 2014-15 season under the new leadership of Head Coach Rusty Cram. The veteran coach joined the program in July of 2014 as the successor of Craig Roden, who left UWA to take a position as the head coach of the Delta State Lady Statesmen. Cram holds a career record of 273-270, with a 239-230 stint at Georgia Southern and a 28-33 record as the head coach at Belhaven.
The upcoming game is slated for a 6:30 p.m. EST start and as always, Blazer Nation can follow all of the action as it happens with live audio, video, and live stat links available both below and on the main page at www.vstateblazers.com.
