LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The Valdosta State Lady Blazers suffered a crushing defeat on Monday night in Gulf South Conference play, as the West Alabama Tigers overcame a 14 point halftime deficit to escape with a 69-67 overtime victory at Pruitt Hall Gymnasium in Livingston, Ala..
 
The loss marked the fourth straight for the VSU and dropped the team to 8-8 overall, 4-6 in league play. Meanwhile, the victory snapped a two-game skid for the Tigers and boosted their overall record to an even 7-7 overall, 4-6 against GSC opponents.
 
The Lady Blazers led by as many as 18 points in the first half after a layup by Reshaundra Owens at the 5:52 mark, but a quick surge by the UWA offense in the opening minutes of the second half helped swing the momentum in the Tigers' direction.
 
Facing a 36-22 deficit at intermission, UWA allowed a basket by Blazer senior Maggie Davis on VSU's opening possession of the second half. Moments later, the Tigers strung together a 19-4 run over the course of the next seven minutes that pulled UWA to within one.
 
Imari Simpson connected for several key field goals in the ensuing eight minutes to help fend off the Tigers, but a persistant UWA squad kept the game close and took a 54-53 lead on a Latisha McCullum jump shot with 5:39 to go in regulation. The lead marked the first of the night for the Tigers.
 
After three lead changes and two ties, freshman Jo Bistrow pulled down an offensive rebound and put it back to give VSU a 61-59 advantage with less than 15 seconds to play, but McCullum, who came off the bench to score 14 points on the night, hit a short jumper from the baseline with three seconds remaining to send the contest to overtime.
 
In the overtime period, McCloud gave UWA a 67-65 advantage with just over one minute remaining, and Thomas hit a fastbreak layup with under ten seconds left to knot the game back up at 67-67. With only five seconds remaining, the Tigers drove the length of the floor and took the win with a close range buzzer-beater by Malaka Johnson.
 
The story of the night proved to be UWA's bench, who, led by McCullum, finished with 36 points. McCullum's offensive performance accounted for her best of the season, as she shot 45.5 percent from the field on a 5-of-11 effort. The junior just missed a double-double after snatching nine rebounds on the night.
 
The two teams matched each other with 44 rebounds each, but second-chance points plagued the Lady Blazers, as the Tigers hauled in 24 offensive rebounds and scored 13 points on put back attempts.

Ten different Lady Blazers contributed on offense, and the Lady Blazers posted their best free throw percentage of the season after connecting on 24-of-28 attempts from the line for an 85.7 percentage.

McCloud led all scorers, and concluded the night with 23 points for the Tigers after shooting 11-of-20 from the field. For the Lady Blazers, Simpson finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Thomas added 15 and Davis finished with 13.

The Lady Blazers will continue the long road trip on Saturday with a trip to Pensacola, Fla., where they will square off against the GSC's top-ranked West Florida Argonauts. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. EST time.