PENSACOLA, Fla..- The Valdosta State women's basketball team opened up Gulf South Conference play with a tough 77-71 loss to the West Florida Argonauts on Monday night in Pensacola, Fla.
With the loss, the Lady Blazers dropped to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in GSC play. Meanwhile, the Argonauts improved to 6-1 and 1-0 in conference action.
After falling behind 6-5 to the Lady Blazers early in the contest, the Argonauts bounced back and took control of the game during the second half of the first quarter with a 17-5 run.
The Lady Blazers' woes continued in the second quarter, as an excessive amount of turnovers afforded the Argonauts an opportunity to open their advantage up to a 16-point, 37-21 lead with four minutes to go in the half. The Lady Blazers held their ground, however, and used a late run that included a
Cassie Geopfert three-pointer with less than 30 seconds to go, followed by a layup by
Sonya Franklin in the closing seconds to cut the deficit to 40-30.
Some key second-half adjustments allowed the Lady Blazers to come alive in the third quarter. Franklin picked up right where she left off with a quick layup to start the second half, and Kenya Simone' Dixon nailed a shot from three-point range to cut the deficit to five within the first minute of the period. Toni Brewer, who nearly matched a career-high with 25 points in the game, answered back with a layup to slow the second-half surge, but back-to-back threes by Samone' Dixon and
Aaliyah Cheatham within the seventh minute of the third cut UWF's lead to one at 44-43. Valdosta State took their first lead of the half at the 5:10 mark as Mitchell went up strong in the paint for a three-point play, and
Jazmyn McIntosh came up with a strong offensive rebound and found Simone' Dixon for another trey in the final seconds of the third quarter to put VSU on top 57-55.
Samone' Dixon stayed hot and drilled another shot from long range at the 9:20 mark in the fourth and final frame, and Cheatham added another three with just under six minutes remaining to give the Lady Blazers a 65-60 edge. Katie Bobos returned the favor, however, with two big three pointers during the ensuing three minutes to cut VSU's lead to one at 67-66. UWF senior Alex Coyne proved to be the difference down the stretch, as she scored nine points within the final two minutes to turn the tables and help lead the Argonauts to the six-point victory.
For VSU, Mitchell recorded her sixth straight double-double, as she led the team with both 19 points and 11 boards. Samone' Dixon added 18 points on the night.
The Lady Blazers will continue the road trip on Thursday in Memphis, Tenn. against Lady Bucs of Christian Brothers in another GSC showdown. The game is scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. EST tipoff in Memphis, Tenn.
