VALDOSTA, Ga. – Coming off a pair of victories over Shorter University last weekend, the No. 7 Valdosta State women's basketball team returns to the road at rival West Georgia.  The Lady Blazers and Lady Wolves are set for a 6 p.m. tip Friday, Jan. 29, while Saturday's contest is set for a 2 p.m. start. 
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the women's basketball schedule page.  The games also will be broadcast on 94.3 WJEM FM with Mike Chason having the call and online at foxsportsvaldosta.com. 
 
VSU enters the week with a Gulf South Conference-best record of 10-1 on the year and 10-1 in Gulf South Conference play.  The Lady Blazers lead Montevallo by three games in the East Division standings, as the Falcons are 5-2 in the league and 5-3 overall. Lee sits behind Montevallo at 6-3 in both league play and overall.  West Georgia improved to 5-5 on the year with a 64-54 victory at Auburn Montgomery on Tuesday.  West Florida is 3-4 this season, while Shorter is 1-9 and Auburn Montgomery is 0-6 to round out the division.
 
Union leads the West Division of the conference with an 8-2 record both in league and overall, while it currently is on a league-best five-game winning streak.  West Alabama is second in the West Division at 4-3 in league play and 5-3 overall.  Alabama Huntsville sits at 4-3, while Mississippi College is 3-4.  Delta State sits at 3-6 for fifth in the division, while Christian Brothers is 0-4.
 
Following this weekend's games at West Georgia, the Lady Blazers open the final month of the regular season on Feb. 2 at West Florida at 7:30 p.m., ET.  VSU then returns home to host Montevallo on Feb. 5-6 at The Complex. 
 
VSU moved to a school-best No. 7 in the latest D2SIDA Top 25 announced Tuesday.  The Lady Blazers are the highest ranked team from the Gulf South Conference.  Union is 20^th in the poll, while Montevallo is receiving votes.  VSU also leads the D2SIDA South Region Poll once again this week, claiming all six first-place votes and 36 total points.  Union sits second in the poll, followed by Montevallo, Lee and Alabama-Huntsville rounds out the top five.  West Alabama is sixth, while Benedict and Mississippi College are receiving votes.
 
The Lady Blazers are coming off a season sweep of Shorter this past weekend.  VSU set season-highs in numerous categories against the Hawks, including scoring as the team averaged 86.5 points in the two games and scored a season-high 89 points in the finale on Saturday, 89-57.  VSU won both games by 30 or more points as the team shot 45.0 percent from the field (63-140), while holding Shorter to a 31.9 clip (38-119).  VSU shot 40 percent from beyond the arc (24-59).  The Lady Blazers averaged a staggering 50.5 rebounds in the two contests and heled Shorter to 31.5 rebounds per game.  Graduate student Kwajelin Farrar averaged a team-high 17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game as she was 13 of 19 from the field (68.4) and 9 of 11 from the line.  Sophomore Kendall Bollmer had a pair of outstanding performances as she averaged 14.5 points for the week, draining nine triples in 13 attempts and was 10 of 14 from the field for the week. 
 
The Wolves enter the game after they snapped a four-game skid with the win at Auburn Montgomery.  UWG began the season winning four of its first five with the lone loss being the 82-69 victory by the Lady Blazers on Dec. 12, 2020.  UWG is 3-2 at The Coliseum this season, but dropped its past two games there in losses to Montevallo earlier this month. 
 
For the season, UWG is averaging 69.1 points per game and allowing 70.4 points.  The team is shooting 37.4 percent from the field on 238 of 636, while the opposition is shooting 38.8 percent on 248 of 665.  The Wolves are 63 of 229 (27.5) from downtown and 152 of 206 from the line (73.8).  UWG is averaging 42.3 rebounds per game and allowing 43.3 per contest.  Siera Carter leads the team averaging 11.0 points per game.  She is 37 of 105 from the field (35.2) and a team-best 13 of 49 from range.  Zaria Bankston is 29 of 38 from the line (76.3) to lead the team and is second in scoring at 9.9 points per game.  Morgan Perkins leads the team averaging 8.6 rebounds per game. 
 
In the first meeting between the two teams this season, which happened to be the season-opener for VSU, the Lady Blazers rallied from a 43-33 deficit at halftime, using a 34-12 third quarter for a thrilling 82-69 victory.  Farrar made her Lady Blazer debut going 11 of 13 from the field and pulled down 11 rebounds, along with three assists, one block and two steals for a game-high 23 points.  Senior Kayla Bonilla had 14 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, while sophomore newcomer Jirah Ards added 11 points and nine rebounds in her first game at VSU.  Freshman Alexandria Smith chipped in 11 points in her first collegiate contest.  Carter had a team-high 15 points for the Wolves leading three players in double figures.  VSU outscored UWG 49-26 in the second half.
 
VSU lead the series with UWG 11-10 since Jan. 29, 2011.  The Lady Blazers have won the last two meetings in the series, both at home.  UWG has won eight of ten in Carrollton, including the last two.  VSU's last win at The Coliseum was on Feb. 8, 2018, with a 70-67 victory.  Prior to that, VSU hadn't won there since Feb. 18, 2012 (0-5).
 
For the season, the Lady Blazers are shooting 42 percent from the field on 282 of 671, while going 80 of 255 (31.4) from deep and 155 of 212 from the line (73.1).  VSU is averaging 42 rebounds per game and outrebounding the opposition by 8.8 rebounds per game.  The Lady Blazers are averaging 72.6 points per game and allowing 58.5 per contest.
 
Individually, Bonilla leads the team averaging 15.3 points per game as she is 54 of 110 from the field for a 49.1 average.  She is 13 of 35 from beyond the arc and a team-best 47 of 58 from the line for an 81.0 average.  Bonilla leads the team with 42 assists and 34 steals.  Last week, Bonilla surpassed Deidre Williams (1992-96) for 14^th all-time in career scoring as Bonilla now has 1,228 career points.  She is 123 points behind Pam Johnson for 13^th all-time.
 
Farrar is second in scoring on the team at 13.6 points, while leading the team averaging 9.4 rebounds per game.  Farrar is a team-best 63 of 104 from the field for a 60.6 clip.  She has a team-high 47 offensive rebounds on the year to lead the team, while she has 14 blocks for tops on the squad.  Smith is third in scoring at 9.2 points per game.  Senior Delaney Bernard is fifth in scoring at 7.1 points per game and leads the team with 17 made 3-pointers.
 
Nationally speaking, the Lady Blazers are 17^th nationally and tops in the GSC in blocks (40), while they are 30^th nationally and best in the league in defensive rebounds at 29.8 per game.  VSU is holding teams to a 35.1 average from the field for 19^th nationally and second in the conference.  VSU is tops in the conference in both free throws made (155) and free throws attempted (212) for 24^th and 26^th nationally, respectively.  VSU is 12^th nationally in rebounding margin (8.8) and 15^th in rebounds (462), while the 42.0 average for rebounding is fourth in the GSC.  VSU's 58.5 points per game allowed is 22^nd nationally and tops in the conference, while the Lady Blazers are outscoring teams by 14.1 points per game for 22^nd nationally and second in the league.  The Lady Blazers lead the league in steals with 112 for 14^th nationally.  From range, the team is tops in the league in 3-pointers attempted for 18^th nationally (255) and 23^rd nationally in 3-pointers made (80) for second in the conference. 
 
Bonilla leads the GSC in assists (42) for 29^th nationally, while she is tops in the league in free throws attempted (58) for 17^th nationally and free throws made (47) for 19^th nationally.  She is fourth nationally in steals (34) for the conference lead, while she is second in the league in steals per game and 15^th nationally at 3.09 per contest. 
 
Farrar is second in the GSC and 35^th nationally in blocked shots (14), while she is fifth nationally in double-doubles with six for second in the GSC.  She is 37^th in made field goals (37) and leads the GSC in field goal percentage at a 60.6 clip for 13^th nationally.  Farrar is averaging 4.3 offensive rebounds per game for 17^th nationally.