GSC Championship Central

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VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 5-seed Valdosta State Lady Blazers battle top-seeded Union University Saturday at 1 p.m. ET in the first of two semifinals in the Gulf South Conference Championship at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala.  
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming of the game on vstateblazers.com on the women's basketball schedule page.  For more information on the championship click on the link at the top of this page, for the GSC Championship Central webpage. Mike Chason will have the call of the game on 92.1 WDDQ.  
 
The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN App.  It is accessible on computers via ESPN.com/watch and on smartphones, tablets and streaming devices through the ESPN App. The network is available nationwide at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider. It also is available at no cost to U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers, smartphones and tablets connected to on-campus educational and on-base military broadband and Wi-Fi networks.
 
Fans will need to click on the link to Watch ESPN at the top of this page prior to the start of the game on Saturday (when the "play" icon appears on the graphic for the game) and select your cable provider. You will then be prompted to put in your username and password for your cable provider and it will then take you back to the game screen where you click on the "play" icon once again, to start the broadcast.  
 
Tickets for the GSC Championships can be purchased for 25% discount by Mar. 8 for $9 instead of the regular price of $12.  Click at the link at the top of the page to purchase tickets for the championship. General admission tickets cost $12 and are good for daily admission for the Semifinals on Saturday, March 9 or the Finals on Sunday, March 10. Student tickets (valid ID required) can only be purchased at the Pete Hanna Center box office inside the arena. Admission is free for Children 5 years and younger.

The GSC will provide $1.00 of each ticket purchased to the Neverthirst International Well Project. Additional donations can also be made inside the Pete Hanna Center or via the official online donation page.
 
The Lady Blazers will most likely need to win the GSC Championship to earn a berth in the NCAA South Regional as they enter the semifinals not in the top ten in the latest region rankings released by the NCAA on Wednesday.  Union is No. 2 in the rankings this week, behind Florida Southern as the two were tied for the top spot last week.  West Florida sits third, followed by lee, Tampa, Eckerd, Nova Southeastern, Benedict, Embry-Riddle and Delta State is tenth, who VSU won two of three games with this season.  The 2019 NCAA Women's Division II Championship selections will be announced on NCAA.com Sunday evening.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for information on the selection show and time of the broadcast.  
 
In the second semifinal on Saturday, No. 7-seed West Georgia, who upset No. 2-seed West Florida on Tuesday, battles No. 3-seed Lee.  The 2019 GSC Championship is scheduled for Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET with the winner earning the automatic bid from the GSC to the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship.
 
VSU is coming off a strong road win at No. 4-seed Delta State in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament on Tuesday.  VSU won its 20^thgame of the season in the 54-46 win over DSU. The Lady Blazers had three players in double figures led by 15 points from senior Maddy Corazza.  Senior Sonya Franklin, who hit a huge trey with 1:06 left, finished with 13 points and senior Crystal Townsend added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
 
The Lady Blazers stifled the Lady Statesmen, holding DSU to just 46 points for the second-lowest output by DSU this season and marked the sixth time this season VSU has held a team under 50 points.  Franklin put VSU up 51-46 with 1:06 to play as she buried the triple with the shot clock winding down and VSU outscored DSU 6-0 over the final 2:10 of the game.
 
VSU improved to 21-24 all-time in the GSC Championship and this will be the program's 16^thtrip to the semifinals and first since 2016-17, when it won its third conference tournament title.  VSU has made seven trips to the finals.  
 
Union won the regular season title and is ranked tenth in the latest WBCA Top 25. The Lady Bulldogs downed West Alabama 77-60 in the quarterfinal round to advance to the semifinals.  Union now is 9-2 all-time in the conference tournament in its fifth appearance with two titles, including last season.  The Lady Bulldogs are making their fourth trip to the semifinals this season.  
 
The Lady Bulldogs downed VSU 62-47 in the 2018-19 conference-opener back on Nov. 29, in Valdosta.  In the game, Bonilla had a team-high 17 points, while Townsend recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.  Union shot 45.8 percent from the field, while VSU shot 31.6 and the Lady Blazers were just 1 of 11 from beyond the arc, while going 10 of 21 from the line.  VSU held a 14-6 lead in offensive rebounds, but only led 7-5 in second chance points.  
 
For the season, VSU is shooting 38.7 percent from the field on 648 of 1676, while going 145 of 488 from beyond the arc (.297) and 359 of 573 from the line (.627). The Lady Blazers are averaging 40.7 rebounds per game and score 62.1 points per game.  Conversely, the opposition is 583 of 1551 from the field (37.6), while going 141 of 511 (27.6) from beyond the arc and 327 of 473 (69.1) from the line.  The opponents are averaging 33.4 rebounds per game and 56.3 points per contest.
 
Bonilla leads the team averaging 11.1 points per game.  She is 107 of 270 from the field for a 39.6 average, while draining 23 treys and going a team-high 84 of 113 from the line (74.3).  She has 96 assists to lead the team and a team-high 46 steals.  Townsend is second in scoring at 10.4 points per game.  She is 106 of 244 from the field (.434) with 22 triples and 68 of 91 from the line.  Townsend leads the team in rebounding at 7.1 per game.  Franklin is third in scoring at 10.3 points per game.  She has made a team-high 118 field goals for a 46.6 average. Junior Nari Garner leads the team with 42 treys on the season.