CLEVELAND, Tenn. - An off night for the Lady Blazer offense led to 66-45 loss to the Lady Flames on Tuesday in a Gulf South Conference matchup at Paul Dana Walker Arena in Cleveland, Tenn.
The Flames jumped on the Lady Blazers early to claim a 20-9 at the end of quarter one, and VSU couldn't seem to find their rhythm in the remaining minutes prior to the half. Valdosta State tallied just six points in the second quarter of play, four of which were from free throw opportunities.
As a team, the Lady Blazers shot just 16.0 percent from the field and 15.4 percent from behind the arc in the first half. Meanwhile, Abby Bertram fueled Lee with 16 of her 21 points in the first two quarters and ended the half with a buzzer beater off the glass from the top of the key. As a result, Valdosta State headed into the half trailing the Lady Flames 15-35.
Crystal Townsend led the way in the third period with four consecutive points off the bench, which sparked a 15-point offensive burst in the frame, but the Lady Blazers' aggressive third quarter display wasn't enough to bring VSU back to within striking distance, as Lee maintained the spread for a 52-30 advantage leading into the final quarter of play.
"Our effort was much better in the second half defensively," said Head Coach Carley Kuhns after the loss. "The effort was there, we applied pressure, won the rebounding game, and played aggressively throughout the second half. It just wasn't enough to overcome our poor first half performance."
The Blazers won the rebounding battle on the night with 45 total rebounds, 18 of those being offensive. Senior Madi Mitchell pulled down 11 in the paint and Kenya Samone'-Dixon contributed with seven.
Valdosta State put up another 15-point quarter in the fourth and outscored the Flames by one point, but it was too little too late.
Valdosta State's 21 turnovers led to 16 points for Lee throughout the night, which came from VSU being out of sync and not tough with the ball, according to Kuhns in the postgame interview.
Offensively, Kenya Samone'-Dixon led the Lady Blazers with 14 points, draining 6-of-11 from inside the arc. Freshmen Kayla Bonilla chipped in with 8 points and shot 50.0 percent from the field on the night.
With the loss, the Lady Blazers fell to 8-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play, while the Lady Flames improved to 10-3 overall and 3-2 in the Gulf South Conference.
Valdosta State returns back to action on the road this Thursday, January 4th against the Shorter Hawks. The GSC matchup is set to tip off at 6:00 p.m. in Rome, Ga. Be sure to follow along and stay updated with live coverage and stats at vstateblazers.com.
