CLINTON, Miss. – The Lady Blazers were out for revenge on Thursday night, as they defeated Gulf South Conference rival Lady Choctaws of Mississippi College 63-49 at A.E. Wood Coliseum in Clinton, Miss.

The victory allowed Valdosta State to improve their overall team record to 11-10 and 7-9 in conference play. Meanwhile, the Lady Choctaws dropped to 5-14 overall and 3-13 in GSC play.

The Lady Blazers used the efforts of Imari Simpson in the first quarter to secure an eight point advantage over the Lady Choctaws. Simpson collected seven points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field and added one free-throw to help the Lady Blazers take an early edge over Mississippi College. Meanwhile, the Lady Choctaws relied solely on Kristen Sampson for all seven of MC's first quarter points.
 
Leading 15-7 after one, the hot shooting of Valdosta State carried into the second frame, as Lydia Harvey knocked down her second three pointer of the night at the 8:01 mark to extend VSU's lead to ten. Maggie Davis gave VSU a 14 point lead, their largest of the game up to that point, with a three ball at the 1:19 mark late in the second quarter, and the Lady Blazers used full court pressure on defense to hold the Lady Choctaws to just nine points in the period, resulting in a 28-16 halftime lead for the red and black.
 
The Lady Blazers continued to crank up the pressure on defense in the second half, which continuously disrupted the Lady Choctaw attack in the third quarter. MC pieced together a late run in the frame, however, a layup by Allie Hill sparked an 8-1 run over the final three minute stretch and closed VSU's lead to eight points at 41-33.
 
In need of a strong fourth quarter, Harvey was there to answer the call. The senior, who finished with five threes in the game, knocked down two shots from beyond the arc within a one minute span to spread VSU's lead back out to 14 points at the 8:34 mark in the final period. The Lady Blazer defense helped VSU hold the Lady Choctaws at bay the rest of the way.
 
VSU shot 22-of-49 from the field, 9-of-22 from behind the arc, and 10-of-20 from the free-throw line to clinch the victory over the Lady Choctaws. The Lady Blazers connected on six of their seven attempts from the three point line in the second half for 85.7 percent, and VSU's 13 offensive rebounds led to 15 second chance points.
 
For Valdosta State, Harvey led the offense with a 15 point night that included a 5-of-8 effort from the field and an impressive 5-of-7 shooting performance from three-point range. Madi Mitchell had a solid performance as well and contributed 12 points.
 
For the Lady Choctaws, Sampson led the team with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, a 3-of-6 night from beyond the arc, and a 2-of-2 effort from the stripe.
 
Up next for the Lady Blazers, VSU will face Delta State in another GSC matchup on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. EST in Cleveland, Miss. Full coverage will be available at www.vstateblazers.com.