CLEVELAND, Miss. – The Valdosta State women's basketball team shot 52 percent for the game earning a 69-60 victory at Delta State Saturday afternoon as it improved to 11-5 overall and 5-3 in Gulf South Conference play.  Three Lady Blazers were in double figures led by 16 points off the bench from senior Kendra Green.
 
VSU was 26 of 50 from the field for the game after opening 15 of 26 for the first half.  The Lady Blazers were 6 of 15 from beyond the arc, while going 11 of 19 from the line.  VSU held a 36-27 lead in rebounding.  Sophomore Kayla Bonilla added 13 points and six assists, while senior Crystal Townsend was 7 of 9 from the field and had a team-high seven rebounds and 15 points. 
 
Delta State (10-5, 5-3 GSC) hung in there despite poor shooting from the field as DSU began the game 12 of 14 from the line in the first half, while the Lady Blazers were 5 of 12 from the charity stripe in the opening half.  DSU went 22 of 55 from the field for the game (.400), 0 of 9 from beyond the arc and 16 of 22 from the line for a .727 clip.  DSU went to the line just six times in the second half.  Nia Johnson had a game-high 23 points for the Statesmen as she was 8 of 14 from the field and 7 of 7 from the line, while Frederica Haywood had 11 rebounds and Quantesha Patterson added 12 points.
 
VSU came out of the gates on fire as it made 7 of its first 10 shots for the quarter and built an eight-point advantage multiple times in the opening frame.  DSU closed the opening stanza on a 7-2 run for an 18-15 Lady Blazer lead after one period.  DSU went 9 of 11 from the charity stripe in the first quarter alone.
 
The Lady Blazers quickly pushed the lead to ten on an "and one" by Townsend at 25-15 with 8:27 left in the half.  Townsend then added a jumper later for a 28-17 lead and the largest advantage of the first half.  Four points from Johnson cut the VSU lead to four at 28-24 with 4:27 left, but a 7-2 run by the Lady Blazers pushed the lead to 35-26 with 1:32 left on a jumper from Green.  Townsend made the final bucket of the half for a 37-28 lead.
 
DSU cut the deficit to three early in the third at 37-34, but once again VSU had the answer as it used a 14-2 run capped on a triple from Green for a 51-36 lead with 2:47 left in the frame as Green buried back-to-back triples.  Later, senior Shon Kitchens ended the frame with a triple for a 56-42 score.
 
Bonilla pushed the lead to 17 with 7:45 left in the game on a jumper for a 63-46 lead.  From there, DSU began a comeback as it cut the deficit to nine with an 8-0 run, but the Lady Blazers quickly took command, once again, with two tosses from Green and a bucket from Townsend for a 67-54 lead with 2:47 left.  Back-to-back buckets from Johnson cut the VSU lead to seven at 67-60 with 1:01 left, but Bonilla drained two tosses with 18 seconds left for the 69-60 final margin.
 
The Lady Blazers return home to host West Georgia on Thursday at 6 p.m. at The Complex, followed by hosting Shorter on Saturday at 2 p.m. Check back with vstateblazers.com for links to live stats, radio information, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more.