VALDOSTA, Ga. – In the first meeting on the hardwood between the No. 23 Valdosta State Lady Blazers and No. 16 Bentley College, the Lady Blazers came out victorious with a 68-55 victory Saturday afternoon in the final game for both teams in the VSU Thanksgiving Classic.  VSU graduate student Mallory Odell posted a game-high 20 points off the bench on 6 of 8 from the field and 8 of 10 from the line.  Graduate student Nicole Heyn posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds in the victory.  
 
The Lady Blazers (4-1) also had 14 points and seven rebounds from graduate student Kwajelin Farrar as the team shot 48 percent for the game on 24 of 50 from the field, while going 6 of 17 from range and 14 of 18 from the line.  Bentley (3-2) had one player in double figures with 18 points from Ella Thompson.  
 
Bentley, who lost to Eckerd Friday, went 19 of 53 from the field on Saturday, 4 of 25 from beyond the arc and 11 of 18 from the line.  VSU held a 34-29 lead in rebounding as there was one tie and one lead change in the game.  Eckerd defeated Columbus State in the second game Saturday, 62-56, as both VSU and Eckerd finished 2-0 in the tournament.  
 
The Falcons scored the first five points of the game, but VSU responded with an 8-0 run, capped with two free throws by Odell.  A layup from Kylie Ducharme pulled Bentley within 8-7 with 3:45 left in the frame, but the Lady Blazers responded with an 7-0 run for a 15-7 lead with 1:09 remaining in the quarter.  Bentley hit a trey from Maddie Watford to pull within 15-10 at the end of one frame.
 
VSU extended the lead to as many as seven early in the second quarter, but the Falcons roared back pulling within 27-26 capped on a jumper from Maggie Whitmore with 3:17 left in the half.  One of two free throws by Bentley tied the game at 27, but Farrar put VSU up 29-27 following a steal from freshman India Jordan and assist from graduate student Delaney Bernard.  Farrar then scored inside with 1:02 left in the half, but Bentley's Janessa Gonzalez pulled the Falcons within 31-29 with 39 seconds remaining for the halftime score.
 
Bernard came out of the gates on fire in the third quarter with two big treys to get things started for the Lady Blazers and a 37-29 lead with 7:46 left in the frame.  A mini run from Bentley pulled the Falcons within 37-35, capped with a bucket from Thompson in the paint.  
 
Heyn then got into the triples act with her first trey of the quarter and then helped extend the VSU lead to as many as eight with her second trey for a 49-41 lead with 46 seconds left.  VSU went 4 of 7 from beyond the arc in the third quarter alone, while making just two triples in the other three quarters combined.  
 
Sophomore Tamiya Francis hit two free throws late in the quarter for a then-game-high 51-41 lead through three frames as VSU outscored Bentley 20-12 in the quarter.  Francis continued her hot hand into the fourth with an early trey for a 54-43 advantage as VSU scored 7 of the first nine points of the frame and a 58-43 lead.  The Falcons cut the deficit to ten twice down the stretch, but were unable to get any closer as VSU won 68-55.  
 
VSU makes its first road trip of the season on Tuesday, Nov. 30, at Georgia Southwestern at 7 p.m.  Fans can access links to live stats and streaming of the game at vstateblazers.com on the women's basketball schedule page.  The Lady Blazers then return home to open Gulf South Conference play next Saturday at 6 p.m. versus West Georgia.  
 
The game times for the basketball doubleheader against UWG have been moved to 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., due to the VSU NCAA Quarterfinal Football game against Bowie State at 1 p.m., at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium that day.