VALDOSTA, Ga. - The Valdosta State women's basketball team struggled to find a rhythm early, and the West Florida Argonauts held off the Lady Blazers for the duration of the Gulf South Conference Tournament quarterfinal matchup to claim a 68-49 first round upset on Tuesday night at The Complex.

The loss for Valdosta State marked their first of the 2017-18 season on their home floor, and denied a return trip to the GSC Tournament semifinals on Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.

With a record of 21-8 on the season and a No. 7 ranking in the latest round of South Regional polls, the Lady Blazers will now be forced to wait until the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Selection Show to find out if their season will continue. The top eight teams in the region will compete in the 2018 South Regional Tournament, and each participant will be announced at 10:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 4th.

Valdosta State never could get it going offensively in the contest and finished with a 28.6 shooting percentage from the field. In contrast, West Florida connected on 46.7 of their shots. The Argonauts biggest boost came from their three-point shooting, which led to a 53.3 percentage (8-of-15) from beyond the arc.

The Argonauts held VSU's top scorer to just nine points in the game, and Taylor Buie was the only Lady Blazer to reach double digit figures in the scoring column with 10 points on the night.

Valdosta State committed just 12 turnovers in the game and outrebounded the Argonauts 39 to 36. VSU's shooting woes, however, proved to be too much to overcome.

UWF was led offensively by Halee Nieman, who connected on 8-of-13 from the field, including two threes, for 21 points. Shami Goodman added 14, and Chloe Branch gave the Argonauts 12.

Stay tuned to www.vstateblazers.com for additional information on the Lady Blazers' schedule as it becomes available. Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter (@BlazerAthletics), Facebook (Valdosta State Athletics), and Instagram (@valdostastateathletics) for links and information regarding Sunday night's Division II Selection Show.