VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 7 Valdosta State women's basketball team has a quick turnaround as it travels to West Florida for a Tuesday evening matchup beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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 game will be broadcast on 94.3. WJEM FM with Mike Chason having the call and online at foxsportsvaldosta.com.
VSU heads into the matchup in Pensacola, riding a five-game winning streak and is 12-1 on the year and 12-1 in Gulf South Conference play. The Lady Blazers are coming off a pair of wins at West Georgia to sweep the season series with the Wolves. VSU won Friday's game 68-42 behind a great second half run of 18-0 to begin the third quarter and won Saturday's game 71-64. Graduate student
Kwajelin Farrar averaged a double-double in the wins at UWG with 10.5 rebounds per game and 12.0 points per game. She tallied her seventh double-double of the season with a career-high 16 rebounds and 15 points in Saturday's victory. The theme of the weekend was rebounding, especially on the offensive end, as VSU had 38 offensive rebounds in the two games and 95 total rebounds for a 47.5 average, while it held UWG to just 30.5 rebounds per game. Senior
Delaney Bernard averaged 8.5 rebounds per game in the two games, narrowly missing a double-double Saturday with 12 points and nine rebounds.
West Florida enters the midweek matchup with a 4-5 mark overall and in conference play. The Argos split two meetings with Shorter this past weekend in Rome, Ga., downing the Lady Hawks 71-64 on Friday and losing 73-70 on Saturday. Shorter's victory on Saturday snapped its nine-game losing skid. In UWF's last home outing, the Argos upset then-No. 18 Lee 71-61 on Jan. 18 and the Argos are 2-3 at home this season.
UWF leads the series with VSU 12-11 since 2011. VSU is 2-8 in Pensacola during that span and hasn't won there since Jan. 19, 2013 (0-7). Last season, VSU won 60-59 in Valdosta and lost 77-66 on Feb. 27 in Pensacola in the previous meeting. The Lady Blazers and Argos will end the 2020-21 regular season with two games in Valdosta scheduled for Feb. 26-27.
Tuesday marks just the second midweek game of the season for the Lady Blazers. VSU won at Montevallo 62-61 on Wednesday, Dec. 16, for the only other midweek game. UWF is 2-1 in during the week games this season, and is scheduled to have two more Tuesday games each of the next two weeks.
The Argos enter with Danielle Norquest leading the team averaging 11.9 points per game. She is 40 of 94 from the field (.426), while she is second on the team in made triples (12) and is 15 of 20 from the line. Norquest is averaging a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game and a team-best 20 steals on the year. Charlotte Ellmore is second in scoring at 10.2 points per game. Ellmore is 27 of 87 from the field, while she is tied for the team-lead in made 3's with 14 and is second in made free throws, going 24 of 31 (.774) from the line. Ellmore leads the team with 31 assists on the year and second in steals with 14. Gabby Brown is third in scoring at 9.9 points per game and she also has 14 treys on the season. Fanny Hulmi is 26 of 36 from the line for the most made free throws on the team.
As a team, the Argos are shooting .354 from the field on 204 of 577, while the team is 70 of 232 from beyond the arc (.302) and 116 of 181 from the line (.641). Conversely, teams are shooting .441 against UWF (222-503), while the opposition has drained 69 triples in 193 attempts (.358) and is 130 of 180 from the line (.722). UWF is averaging 42.0 rebounds per game and holding teams to 33.0 rebounds per contest. The Argos are scoring 66 points per game and allowing 71.4 per contest.
The Lady Blazers enter the contest averaging 72.2 points per game and allowing 57.7 per game. VSU is shooting at a .419 clip on the year at 337 of 804, while going 95 of 255 (.322) from range and 169 of 239 (.707) from the line. VSU is averaging 42.8 rebounds per game and allowing 32.8 per contest. Conversely, VSU is holding teams to .353 from the field (265-751), while teams are 87 of 286 from beyond the arc (.304) and 133 of 194 (.686) from the line.
Senior
Kayla Bonilla leads the team averaging 14.3 points per game. She is 60 of 134 (.448) from the field, while going 14 of 43 from beyond the arc and is a team-best 52 of 64 from the line (.813). Bonilla is averaging 3.2 rebounds per game, while she has 45 assists and 39 steals as both are team-highs. Farrar is second in scoring at 13.4 points per game. She is a team-best 74 of 128 from the field (.578) and 26 of 40 from the line (.650). Farrar averages a team-high 9.5 rebounds per game, while she has 14 blocks for tops on the team. Smith is third in scoring at 9.4 points per game. She is 42 of 99 from the field (.424) and is 15 of 44 from beyond the arc (.341). Smith is 22 of 32 from the line (.719) and is averaging 5.7 rebounds per game for third on the team.
Following Tuesday's game, VSU returns home to host Montevallo in a pair of games Friday and Saturday at The Complex. Friday's game is set for a 7 p.m. tip, while Saturday's contest is scheduled for 2 p.m.