CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The Lady Blazers of Valdosta State will close out the current road stint against Lee on Saturday afternoon in Cleveland, Tenn. in one of just three remaining road games left on the 2014-15 regular season schedule.
Valdosta State enters the weekend contest looking to reestablish momentum heading into the month of February, but the challenge will be a tough one.
The Lady Flames are in the midst of a two-game winning streak, with their most recent victory coming over the Argonauts of West Florida, who have been duking it out with Union all season long at the top of the Gulf South Conference standings.
Lee's dominating 88-75 win was driven by Emileigh Swafford, Erin Walsh, and Shelby Brown, who make up a dangerous trio of freshmen for the Lady Flames that are each averaging over 10 points per game on the year.
Walsh represents the most threatening player of the bunch with an average of 15.1 points per game, a number that places her among the top ten scorers in the GSC.
As the Lady Blazers approach the final month of the season, the team will need to turn the tide in order to make their way into the GSC Tournament. Only eight teams will earn berths into postseason play this year, and VSU currently stands tied for the final 8th place position among teams eligible for postseason play.
Even with their January slide, the Lady Blazers continue to rank as one of the top shooting teams in the conference. Head Coach
Kiley Hill's squad holds a 42.8 shooting percentage from the field on the year, which places the team second behind Union at 44.7 percent.
Additionally, VSU has continued to improve their free throw shooting numbers. Against Shorter on Thursday night, the team hit 19-of-22 attempts for a percentage of 86.4. The Lady Blazers are rapidly approaching the 70 percent mark on the year and have risen to third place in the league with a 68.1 shooting effort from the stripe.
Unfortunately for the Lady Blazers, the solid shooting numbers have been dwarfed by an excessive amount of turnovers in recent weeks, a problem which VSU aims to remedy in the weeks ahead.
The remainder of the regular season schedule is a favorable one for the red and black, in that the Lady Blazers will play five of their eight remaining contests in the friendly confines of The Complex.
The contest is slated for a 2:00 p.m. start and all of Saturday's action can be followed live at www.vstateblazers.com.
