VALDOSTA, Ga. – Fresh off a dominating performance on Saturday for the first victory of the season, the Valdosta State women's basketball team closes a three-game home stand with No. 14 Georgia Southwestern Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. at The Complex.  
 
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 also will be broadcast on the radio on 94.3 FM/1150 AM WJEM Fox Sports Radio Valdosta and live online at www.foxsportsvaldosta.com with Mike Chason having the call.
 
The Lady Blazers split two Gulf South Conference games last week, dropping a 56-55 heartbreaker to No. 24 Lee, followed by a commanding 81-44 victory over Shorter.  Following the game Tuesday, VSU makes its first road trip of the season after Thanksgiving, traveling to the Magnolia State for games at Delta State (Nov. 26) and at Mississippi College (Nov. 28).  
 
For the week, VSU shot .408 from the field on 49 of 120 from the floor, while going 16 of 42 from beyond the arc (.381) and 22 of 28 from the line (.786).  The Lady Blazers averaged 37.5 rebounds per game and allowed 30.0, while recording 28 assists and 26 steals.  Sophomore Taylor Searcey led five players averaging double figures for the week at 13.5 points per game in two starts.  She went 11 of 22 from the field for the week and 5 of 5 from the line, while averaging a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game, along with seven assists and six steals.  Sophomore Kate Tanner averaged 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while 7 of 13 from the field.  Along with Tanner, junior Lili Long also averaged 6.0 rebounds per game for the week. 
 
This season, the Lady Blazers are shooting .379 from the field on 66 of 174, while going 26 of 65 from deep (.400) and 36 of 50 from the line (.720).  The team is averaging 36.0 rebounds per game and 64.7 points per game.  Conversely, the opposition is shooting 70 of 153 from the field (.458), while going 20 of 58 from deep (.345) and 28 of 42 from the line for a .667 clip.  VSU is allowing 32.3 rebounds per game and 62.7 points per game.  Searcey leads three players in double figures averaging 13.7 points per game and a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game.  She is 15 of 34 from the field (.441) and a perfect 9 of 9 from the line, while recording 12 assists and seven steals to lead the team.  Long is second on the team in rebounding at a 6.7 clip.
 
Lady Blazer fourth-year head coach Deandra Schirmer is 63-23 all-time at VSU and 44-15 in Gulf South Conference play, while going 2-0 against Georgia Southwestern.  VSU was picked third in the Gulf South Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, while it went 26-6 last season and qualified for the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight for the first time since 1984.
 
Georgia Southwestern enters with a 3-0 record following wins over Newberry (76-50), Chowan (65-52) and Middle Georgia (83-40).  The Hurricanes also played an exhibition game at Mercer on Sunday, falling 72-37.  Kayla Langley had a team-high 13 points against Mercer as GSW shot just 24.4 percent on 11 of 45 from the floor and 0 of 12 from beyond the arc.
 
The Lady 'Canes, who were picked to win the Peach Belt Conference, had two players who were named to the 2022-23 all-league preseason team, prior to the beginning of the season.  Senior guard Ava Jones and junior forward Langley earned the honors on the five-player team.  Jones led the Lady Hurricanes last season averaging 15.3 points per game and in assists at 2.7 per contest.  She earned All-PBC First Team honors and all-region tournament accolades.  Langley led the team in rebounding at 5.8 per contest and averaged 11.3 points per game.   She earned second team all-league honors.  GSW edged North Georgia by one point in the voting as UNG reached the national semifinals in last March.
 
This season, the Lady 'Canes are led by a balanced attack of three players averaging 10.3 points per game each.  Jones, Jacquelyn Levay and Skyler Christmas all lead the team, as Levay is a team-best 12 of 17 from the field, while Jones is 11 of 22 and Christmas is 8 of 23.  Christmas leads the team at the charity stripe on 13 of 17, while Levay is 7 of 11 from deep and Jones is a perfect 9 of 9 from the line.  
 
As a team, GSW is shooting .421 from the field on 75 of 178 from the floor, while going 21 of 62 from deep (.339) and 53 of 68 from the line (.779).  The team is averaging 37.7 rebounds per game and scoring 74.7 points per contest.  Defensively, the Lady 'Canes are holding teams to a .298 clip from the field on 45 of 151, while the opposition is averaging 35.3 rebounds per game and just 47.3 points per game.  GSW has forced the opponents into 78 turnovers in three games, while the Lady 'Canes have outscored the opposition 121-58 in the first half this season.  
 
GSW is led by fourth-year head coach Justin Payne, who is 46-28 at the helm of the Lady 'Canes.  He went 23-7 last season, leading the team to the second round of the NCAA Southeast Regional.  Payne is 0-2 against VSU.
 
VSU has won six of the last eight meetings in the series and three-straight, including a 78-69 victory last season in Americus, Ga., on Nov. 30, 2021.  In that game, VSU raced out to a 34-27 lead at halftime and outscored the Lady 'Canes 22-17 in the fourth quarter for the victory.  Four Lady Blazers were in double figures with Searcey having ten points off the bench and Long recording 15 points on 4 of 6 from the field, 3 of 3 from beyond the arc and 4 of 4 from the line.  VSU held GSW to just 37.7 percent from the field, while the Lady Blazers shot 45.2 percent and 10 of 25 from deep.   
 
The last meeting in Valdosta came in an 82-69 overtime victory for VSU on Nov. 29, 2019.  In that game, VSU outscored GSW 15-2 in the overtime period as two free throws by former Lady Blazer Cheray Saunders at the buzzer sent the game to overtime.  VSU erased a four-point deficit in the final 19 seconds of regulation.