BOCA RATON, Fla. – A steal and layup from Lynn's Christina Potts at the buzzer gave the Fighting Knights a 65-63 win over No. 23 Valdosta State Tuesday afternoon.  VSU sophomore Kayla Bonilla finished with a game-high 19 points on 8 of 18 from the field and six rebounds.
 
THE BASICS:
SCORE: Lynn 65, No. 23 Valdosta State 63
RECORDS: Valdosta State 2-2, Lynn 4-0
LOCATION: Boca Raton, Fla.
 
LEADING THE WAY (Statistical Leaders):

• Points: Kayla Bonilla (VSU, 19 points), Juju Uloma (Lynn, 13 points)
• Rebounds:Bonilla, S. Franklin, C. Townsend (VSU, 6 rebounds), Kelsi Fizer (Lynn, 6 rebounds)
• Assists: Bonilla (VSU, 2 assists), Jaylen Snipes (Lynn, 4 assists)
• Steals: S. Franklin/N. Garner (VSU, 2 steals), Dani Lozzi (Lynn, 3 steals)
• Blocks: M. Corazza/Townsend (VSU, 2 blocks), Sydney Fields (Lynn, 2 blocks)

 
FIRST HALF:

• A triple from junior Nari Garner started a 5-0 run by the Lady Blazers late in the first quarter for a 13-8 lead as Garner nailed two triples for a 16-10 advantage. 
• VSU held an 18-14 lead through one quarter.
• Senior Sonya Franklin pushed the lead to a half-high seven at 27-20 with 4:39 left in the half.
• An "and one" from freshman Kayla Frey gave the Lady Blazers a 32-26 lead with 2:05 left, but VSU wouldn't score the rest of the half and the Fighting Knights cut the deficit to three at 32-29.
• Garner had a team-high nine points with three triples to lead the Lady Blazers, while Bonilla had four rebounds and two assists with four points.
• VSU shot better today after a dismal shooting performance yesterday in the 57-51 loss at Palm Beach Atlantic.  Today, the Blazers were 13 of 33 from the field (.394) for the first half, while going 3 of 11 from beyond the arc (.273) and 3 of 3 from the line.
• Lynn shot 11 of 28 from the field, 0 of 6 from beyond the arc and 7 of 8 from the line, while leading 19-18 in rebounding.

 
SECOND HALF:

• The Lady Blazers led 38-33 midway through the third quarter, but each team had troubles hanging onto the basketball with eight turnovers between the two teams to start the half.
• A jumper from Kevyn Ferriera ended a 4:16 drought by the Fighting Knights, pulling Lynn within 38-35 as VSU missed its last seven shots and a drought of 3:12.
• Bonilla ended the drought with a layup and a 40-37 lead with three minutes left in the quarter, but Lynn quickly scored at the other end, pulling within 40-39.
• Ferriera scored her second jumper of the half putting Lynn back in front 41-40 for the first time since the first quarter.
• A tip-in from Franklin at the quarter buzzer gave VSU a 45-43 lead heading to the final frame.
• Lynn began the fourth quarter with a triple from Juju Uloma for the first made trifecta of the game for the Fighting Knights (1-13), but back-to-back buckets from the Lady Blazers put VSU in front 49-46.  
• Lynn hit its second triple of the quarter for a 51-49 lead as VSU had another long scoring drought of 2:23 and zero of its last four from the field with six minutes left.
• Bonilla ended the drought with a layup with 5:23 let and a 51-51 score.
• Two big buckets from Lynn pushed the lead to 55-51 as VSU made just one of its last nine shots, however Bonilla came to the rescue for her team-leading 15^thpoint to cut the deficit to 55-53 with 3:34 left.
• An "and one" for Lynn gave the Fighting Knights a 58-55 lead with 2:54 left and a layup from Bonilla pulled VSU within 62-61 with 1:18 left as both teams began to heat up down the stretch.
• Down two with 17 seconds left, Bonilla hit her 19^thpoint of the game on her eighth made field goal for a 63-63 score.
• After a missed shot by Lynn, a steal for the Fighting Knights led to a bucket at the buzzer by Christina Potts for a 65-63 win by Lynn.

 
UP NEXT:

• The Lady Blazers have the rest of this week off from games for the Thanksgiving holiday and will return to action a week from Thursday as they open the 2018-19 Gulf South Conference slate at The Complex against preseason league-favorite Union University at 6 p.m.
• Fans can access links to live stats and audio/video streaming of the game at vstateblazer.com on the women's basketball schedule page.