VALDOSTA, Ga. - The Lady Blazers made a late push in Gulf South Conference basketball action on Saturday night against Delta State, but the comeback bid fell short as the Lady Statesmen outlasted Valdosta State 62-53 in Valdosta, Ga..

Valdosta State trailed by six points with 3:19 to go in the contest and cut the deficit to two at the 2:04 mark after layups by both April Thomas and Imari Simpson. Delta State's Chelsey Rhodes, who finished the night with 26 points, hit a shot to open DSU's lead back up to four points with less than two minutes to play, but VSU trimmed the lead to just two points again over the course of the next minute, and trailed 54-52 with just 17 seconds to play.

The contest went sour for Valdosta State from that point forward, as Jordan Waugh was charged with an intentional foul away from the ball during the final 13 seconds, and Head Coach Kiley Hill was tagged with a technical foul after voicing his displeasure with the call. The pair of fouls, along with an additional foul as the clock winded down, allowed Delta State six free throw opportunities. The Lady Statesmen converted on each of those shots to spread their lead back to nine before the final buzzer sounded.

Imari Simpson tallied her highest point total of the season after shooting 8-of-11 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free throw line. Her 20 point total represented a team-high for the Lady Blazers on Saturday night and came during just 18 minutes of action during the contest.

Thomas added 13 points on the night, while Maggie Davis hauled in a team-high four rebounds.

Delta State survived 19 turnovers on the evening, thanks in large part to 39 rebounds against just 22 for the Lady Blazers. DSU secured 11 boards on the night, and scored 10 points off of putback shots.

As a team, the Lady Statesmen posted a 45.5 percent shooting effort from three point range, and were led from long range by Rhodes, who connected on four of her seven attempts.

The Lady Blazers fell to 11-12 overall after the loss and 7-10 in GSC play. Meanwhile, the Lady Statesmen improved to 13-8 overall, 11-6 against league opponents.

Valdosta State will hit the road for their final road trip of the season next week, beginning with a Thursday night matchup against Union in Jackson, Tenn.. The contest is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. EST start, and can be followed live at www.vstateblazers.com.