GSC Women's Basketball Championship Central

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Behind a career-high 30 points from sophomore Kayla Bonilla, including 22 in the second half, the No. 5-seed Valdosta State Lady Blazers upset top-seeded Union 68-62 Saturday afternoon in the first of two Gulf South Conference semifinals. 
 
VSU (21-9) advances to its second conference final in three years and eighth overall as the Blazers used a huge third quarter to upset the No. 10-ranked Lady Bulldogs.  VSU will await the winner of the No. 7-seed West Georgia against No. 3-seed Lee in the GSC Championship Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET.  The winner of Sunday's game will earn the GSC's automatic berth to the NCAA South Regional, next weekend. 
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com to see who VSU will face later this evening.  The championship game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and The Watch ESPN App.  Mike Chason will have the call of the game on 92.1 WDDQ FM. 
 
As it has been the theme for much of the season, the Lady Blazers used a big third quarter and strong second half to rally from a 30-24 deficit at halftime.  VSU outscored Union 27-10 in the third quarter and 44-32 in the second half for the six-point win to even the season series at 1-1. 
 
Bonilla finished the game 8 of 16 from the field, 5 of 9 from beyond the arc and 9 of 10 from the line with five rebounds leading two players in double figures.  Senior Sonya Franklin added 10 points, while senior Crystal Townsend led the way with 12 huge rebounds. 
 
VSU shot 19 of 56 from the field for 33.9 percent, while going 9 of 32 from range and 21 of 30 from the line as free throws proved to be a major factor in the game, especially down the stretch as VSU was 15 of 20 from the line in the final frame.  Union was just 13 of 20 from the stripe for the game and 5 of 8 in the final stanza.  The Lady Blazers held a 42-34 lead in rebounding and a 15-10 advantage on the offensive end with some key second chance possessions in the fourth quarter.
 
Union (27-3) went 22 of 56 from the field for 39.3 percent, while the Lady Bulldogs went 5 of 19 from beyond the arc and the 13 of 20 from the line.  Jada Smith scored a team-high 25 points for the Lady Bulldogs on 11 of 18 from the floor with one triple, two free throws and six rebounds leading two players in double figures.  Avree Carpenter finished with 17 points. 
 
The Lady Blazers advance to their eighth tournament championship game and now are 22-24 all-time in the GSC Championship.  VSU has won the league title three times, 1983, 1984 and 2017.  In the 2017 championship, VSU downed West Florida, 91-79 in overtime.
 
Union led by four early in the contest, but the upset-minded Lady Blazers erased the deficit with a triple from Bonilla and a layup from senior Shon Kitchens at 11-8 with 3:54 left in the frame.  Union came back and took a 16-13 lead at the end of one quarter with a triple from Carpenter. 
 
The Lady Bulldogs stretched the lead to seven with a pair of free throws from Morgan Martin at 25-18 with 3:07 left in the half.  VSU pulled within 25-21 on a trey from Franklin, but Carpenter answered at the other end and junior Nari Garner cut it back to four at 28-24 on three-straight possessions with triples from both teams.  Emily Beard made two free throws for a 30-24 Lady Bulldog lead at halftime.
 
Bonilla led the way with eight points for the Lady Blazers, while Carpenter had ten points for Union. 
 
The second half rally started with an 8-0 run to begin the third quarter capped with a triple from Bonilla and two free throws from her for a 32-30 lead with 7:39 left in the frame.  She then put VSU back in front 34-32 with a jumper and then Franklin extended the lead to four on a layup from Franklin at 36-32.
 
With 40 seconds left in the frame, Bonilla drained back-to-back triples for a 51-40 lead through three frames.  She scored 15 of the 27 points by the Lady Blazers in the frame on 5 of 5 shooting with three triples and two free throws. 
 
Buckets from Smith and Martin cut the deficit to six at 52-46 with 6:13 left as VSU called a timeout.  Franklin buried two free throws and Townsend came up with a big offensive rebound and put back for a 56-47 lead with 4:56 left.  Senior Jazmyn McIntosh hit two more free throws, stretching the lead back to ten at 59-49 with 2:43 remaining.
 
Miracle Gray and Smith each hit buckets for the Lady Bulldogs and two free throws from Carpenter pulled Union within four with 1:14 left.  Townsend calmly hit two tosses at the other end, but Tiffany Rechis came up with a huge triple for a 62-60 score with 36 seconds left. 
 
Bonilla hit two tosses after immediately being fouled and then tallied a steal and hit two more free throws for a 66-60 lead.  Union cut it to four, and could have made it three, but Smith missed one of three tosses as she was hacked on a 3-pointer.  With eight seconds left, Bonilla sealed the win with two more tosses and her first 30-point game of her career at 68-62.