VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Lady Blazers captured their first Gulf South Conference victory of the 2015-16 season against the rival Lions of North Alabama with a final score of 76-63 on Thursday night in Valdosta, Ga.
The triumph allowed Valdosta State to improve their overall record to 5-1 and 1-0 in conference play. Meanwhile, the Lions dropped to an overall 1-5 team record and 0-1 in GSC play.
The Lady Blazers came out hot in the first half with a 56.7 percent shooting effort against UNA's 39.1 percentage from the field. The red and black used that solid shooting performance, which featured a 7-of-13 three point shooting exhibition, to claim a comfortable 43-26 lead at intermission. In the first half alone, sophomore
Madi Mitchell went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc to account for half of her 12 points over the course of the first and second quarter.
Valdosta State held a substantial lead throughout the third quarter, but in the fourth and final frame, the Lions made one final push and cut the lead to eight points on a Kierra Groce layup with 6:56 to play in regulation.
The difference, however, proved to be rebounding and free throw shooting. The Lady Blazers hauled in 20 second half rebounds against just five second half boards for the Lions, and Valdosta State teamed up for a perfect 7-of-7 free throw shooting effort to keep the Lions at bay and never allow them to cut the lead any further.
For the Lady Blazers, Mitchell shot 9-of-15 overall and 1-of-1 from the stripe to lead the offense and finish the night with a season-high 21 points, while senior
Lydia Harvey chipped in with 12 points and six rebounds to help lead VSU to their first win over North Alabama since the 2013-14 season.
Keke Gunter, one of the league's top three scorers, posted another strong offensive effort for North Alabama with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and a 5-of-7 night from the free throw line.
The Lady Blazers will face the Chargers of Alabama-Huntsville in another Gulf South Conference showdown on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at The Complex in Valdosta, Ga. Full coverage of the weekend showdown will be available at www.vstateblazers.com.
