FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Valdosta State women's basketball team took the No. 21 ranked Nova Southeastern Sharks down to the wire on the Sharks' home court, before falling 85-79 in a matchup between South Region foes in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. on Friday afternoon.
The Sharks (4-1) opened up the contest with three free throws to claim an early 3-0 lead, but Valdosta State (2-2) connected for the first field goal of the game when
Kenya Samone' Dixon dropped in a close range shot at the 8:40 mark in the first quarter. The bucket by Samone' Dixon sparked an 18-4 run for the Lady Blazers over the course of the next five minutes and gave VSU an 11 point advantage. During the final three minutes of the frame, NSU outscored Valdosta State 12-7 to prevent the Lady Blazers from running away with the contest.
Valdosta State kept control in the second quarter and maintained a slim lead leading up to halftime, after scoring 14 points against NSU's 16-point output. The two teams matched each other throughout the second frame, and the Sharks managed to tie the contest up multiple times during the final minutes of the quarter. A late run by VSU and big three by
Aaliyah Cheatham in the final minute of the second, however, helped lead the Lady Blazers to a 39-35 halftime lead.
Nova Southeastern used a halftime adjustment to string together an 8-3 run in the opening minutes of the third, and the Sharks maintained the lead throughout most of the quarter with a series of timely three point shots. The Lady Blazers remained poised, however, and Cheatham buried a clutch shot from long range to tie the contest up at 55-55 with 1:21 to play in the frame.
Madi Mitchell and
Sonya Franklin scored from close range in the final minute, but the Sharks matched both shots to keep the game tied at 59-59 heading into the final period.
The Lady Blazers trailed by as many as five points during the first five minutes of the final quarter, but the red and black did not go quietly and used the continued steady output of Mitchell, along with two big threes by Cheatham and
Cassie Geopfert to recover and reclaim the upper hand at 70-69 midway through the quarter. NSU continued the back-and-forth trend down the stretch, however, and managed to seal the tightly contested matchup with a timely 16-9 run during the closing minutes of the game.
Mitchell scored a career-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field, and secured her third consecutive double-double of the season after pulling down 10 rebounds. For the Sharks, Christen Prasse proved to be a thorn in the Blazers side, as she scored a career-high 29 points, nine of which came at the free throw line.
Three additional Blazers reached double-digit figures in the scoring column, as Cheatham, Geopfert, and Samone-Dixon poured in 17, 12, and 11 points, respectively. The strong offensive outing wasn't enough to overcome a slip at the free throw line for Valdosta State, however, where the Lady Blazers hit 11-of-22 for a 50 percent shooting effort.
Despite falling to 2-2 on the season, the Lady Blazers' posted another encouraging offensive outing and scored 75-plus points for the third time in just four games. VSU will look to carry that momentum into their next matchup on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. against Palm Beach Atlantic. The contest will once again take place in Ft. Lauderdale, with full coverage available right here at www.vstateblazers.com.
