VALDOSTA, Ga. – Coming off two road wins by a combined four points, the Valdosta State women's basketball team returns home to host West Georgia in Gulf South Conference play Thursday at 6 p.m., at The Complex.  
 
The Lady Blazers enter with a 4-2 record overall and a 3-1 mark in Gulf South Conference play as they ride a four-game winning streak into Thursday's contest.  West Georgia is 3-3 on the year and 2-1 in Gulf South Conference play.  
 
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 have live audio on the stream provided by Spencer Van Horn, while the game also will be broadcast on the radio at 94.3 WJEM Fox Sports Valdosta and online at foxsportsvaldosta.com with Mike Chason on the call.
 
Thursday marks the first of two meetings in both men's and women's basketball in the Red Clay Rivalry Series this year.  UWG leads the second annual rivalry series 3.5-1.5 heading into the winter season.  For basketball, a school needs to sweep the regular season series to earn a full point per gender.  If the teams split the season series in men's and women's basketball, each institution will earn a half a point for each victory.  
 
Recapping the fall season for the Red Clay Rivalry Series, the schools split the season series in volleyball, while UWG won in women's soccer and football and the rivals split in cross country, with each team earning a point as VSU won in men's and UWG in women's at the conference meet.  VSU won the inaugural Red Clay Rivalry Series in 2021-22, 7-4. 
 
VSU won 44-42 at Delta State on Saturday as sophomore Kate Tanner scored what turned out to be the winning margin with 1:24 left in the contest and a 43-40 lead at that point.  A few seconds later, junior Lili Long made one of two at the stripe for a 44-40 lead.  In the final minute, a bucket by DSU and a turnover on the Lady Blazers, gave the Lady Statesmen one last shot, missing a potential tying jumper at the buzzer.   VSU made the most of the Lady Statesmen's 21 turnovers for an 18-8 advantage in points off turnovers.  Junior Tamiya Francis finished with 11 points, while sophomore Taylor Searcey had ten points and nine rebounds.
 
Two days later, VSU won 55-53 at Mississippi College and withstood a furious fourth quarter rally by the Lady Choctaws for the victory.  MC pulled to within one with six minutes to go at 48-47, before junior Emma Martin buried two of her four triples to push the lead to 55-48 with under five minutes remaining.  MC cut the deficit to 55-53 with one of two free throws with 1:21 to play, but the 16^th turnover on the Lady Choctaws with two seconds remaining sealed the victory for the Lady Blazers.  VSU led by as many as 13 points, but struggled in the second half, scoring just 16 points.  VSU, once again, forced MC into turnovers and being rewarded at the other end, outscoring the Lady Choctaws 20-5 in points off 16 MC miscues, with none bigger than the last one.  Searcey finished the game with a team-high seven steals.  Francis finished with a team-high 16 points on 7 of 15 from the field and 2 of 7 from deep, while Martin had 12 points – all on treys. 
 
For the season, Francis leads the team averaging 10.5 points per game as she is a team-best 23 of 59 from the field (.390) and 12 of 31 from deep (.387).  Searcey is second in scoring at 10.2 points per game on 20 of 52 from the field (.385), while she is a team-high 19 of 23 from the line (.826).  Searcey leads the team averaging 7.7 rebounds per game with a team-high 16 assists and 16 steals.  Searcey is 40^th nationally and second in the GSC in steals (16), while she is fourth in the GSC in steals per game at a 2.67 clip.  She also leads the league in offensive rebounds per game at 3.7 for 40^th nationally, while her 46 total rebounds are good for fourth in the league.  
 
As a team, the Lady Blazers are shooting .372 from the field on 120 of 323 from the floor, while they are 42 of 127 from beyond the arc (.331) and 77 of 109 from the line for a .706 clip.  Conversely, the opposition is shooting at a .412 clip on 115 of 279, while it is 38 of 98 from deep (.388) and 67 of 96 from the line.  VSU holds a 33.0-30.8 edge in rebounding while it is averaging 59.8 points per game and allowing 55.8 per contest.   The 55.8 points allowed is good for 31^st nationally and second in the GSC to Union who is allowing 52.0 points per game.  
 
Lady Blazer head coach Deandra Schirmer is 66-23 in her fourth season at the helm of the program.  She is 46-15 in Gulf South Conference play.  VSU was picked third in the preseason GSC Coaches Poll, behind league favorite Union and Lee was picked second.  
 
West Georgia is coming off a 79-49 loss at No. 6 Union on Saturday.  The Wolves won three-straight games prior to the loss after starting the season 0-2.  The Wolves are under the direction of first-year head coach Joanna Reitz, who served as an assistant at the University of Utah for five seasons.  She is no stranger to the Southeast as she was at USC-Aiken, Mercer and at Shorter for two seasons in the GSC.  

This season, the Wolves are led by Stephanie Torres who leads the team averaging 9.8 points per game.  Torres is 21 of 52 from the field (.404), while she is second on the team in made 3-pointers at 7 of 29 (.241) and is 10 of 12 from the line.  She has a team-high 16 assists and 12 steals.  Aliyah Washington also is averaging 9.8 points per game, while she is 23 of 64 from the field (.359).  Washington is second on the team in rebounding at a 4.2 clip, while she is third in assists (10) and second in steals (11).  Peace Okeke leads the team averaging 9.5 rebounds per game and third in scoring at 9.5 points per game.  Okeke is a team-high 25 of 37 from the line (.676) and is 16 of 43 from the field (.372).  She has a team-high five blocks.  
 
As a team, the Wolves are shooting .383 from the field (127-332), while going 30 of 123 from distance (.244) and 71 of 108 from the line for a .657 clip.  UWG is averaging 32.2 rebounds per game and allowing 35.3 per contest, while averaging 59.2 points per game and allowing 66.8 per game. 
 
VSU has won 15 of the last 25 meetings in the series, including six-straight, dating back to a 78-69 setback in Carrollton, Ga., on Jan. 16, 2020.  VSU is 10-2 over the last 12 meetings in the series in Valdosta, including the last three.  UWG's last win in Valdosta came on Jan. 17, 2019, in a 70-65 decision.  Prior to that, the Wolves had not won in Valdosta since 62-59 score on Feb. 20, 2014.  Schirmer is 6-1 against UWG.
 
Following Thursday's game, the Lady Blazers don't play against until Dec. 11 at 2 p.m. versus preseason GSC-favorite Union and then are scheduled to host Christian Brothers on Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 6 p.m., to close out the pre-Christmas schedule.