VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State women's basketball team upset visiting No. 5 Union 60-54 Sunday afternoon to run its winning streak to six games.  The Lady Blazers were led by ten points from senior Jirah Ards and ten points off the bench from junior Aleisha Curry.
 
The victory improved VSU to 6-2 on the year and 5-1 in Gulf South Conference play, while Union fell to 5-2 overall and 4-2 in GSC play.  It marked the first back-to-back losses for Union since the end of the 2018-19 season with a loss to VSU in the GSC semifinals and a loss to Nova Southeastern in the first round of the regionals.  The victory for the Lady Blazers marked the second-straight over Union and the first in Valdosta since a 75-59 decision on Feb. 9, 2017.  It also marked the second victory over a top ten team this season for VSU as the Lady Blazers are 2-2 against ranked foes this season. 
 
The Lady Blazers had some added fan support Sunday to see the upset victory as they welcomed back local youth who attended Lady Blazer Basketball Camps last summer.  In addition, teams from Valdosta High School, Valdosta Middle School, Pine Grove Middle School, Lowndes High School, Irwin County High School and Middle School attended the game Sunday as they were among teams who competed in the Lady Blazer Basketball Team Camp last summer.  The teams and campers from last summer in attendance Sunday will participate in halftime entertainment, received a special shout out on the public address, a welcome message on the videoboard and autographs with the Lady Blazers following the game.
 
For the game, VSU shot an even 50 percent on 19 of 38 from the floor, while going 2 of 5 from deep and 20 of 29 from the line.  Ards was 3 of 4 from the field, 1 of 1 from deep and 3 of 6 from the line, along with five rebounds, one assist and two steals to earn Guardian Bank Lady Blazer Player of the Game.  Curry was 3 of 5 from the field and 4 of 4 from the line with three rebounds and one block in her first double-digit performance of the season for the red and black.  Sophomore Taylor Searcey finished with nine points and a team-high eight rebounds with five assists and three steals.  Junior Tamiya Francis also had nine points.  VSU held a dominating 38-21 lead in rebounding.  Turnovers were an issue for both teams with VSU with 28 miscues and Union with 21, while Union had 14 steals as it averaged over 12 entering the game.
 
Union went 20 of 51 from the field for 39.2 percent while it was 5 of 18 from deep and 9 of 16 from the line.  Lauren West had a game-high 14 points off the bench on 5 of 6 from the field and 4 of 4 from deep, while Samariah Thompson added 11 points. 
 
VSU began the game with an 8-0 run through the first four minutes of the game as the Lady Blazers capitalized on a couple of Union miscues early.  Union began the game missing its first four shots.   The Lady Bulldogs finally got on the board with a bucket for an 8-2 deficit and 3:30 to play in the first quarter as Union was 0 of 6 before the made field goal.  VSU finished the quarter leading 16-9.
 
Both teams struggled early in the second quarter with neither team scoring in the first two-plus minutes of the frame.   Searcey scored inside from junior Lili Long for an 18-9 lead and 6:42 left in the half.  A bucket from Union's Shylee Morrison pulled the Lady Bulldogs within 18-13 and 5:43 left in the second.  
 
Three steals and a backcourt violation on VSU pulled Union within 18-17 with under four minutes left in the half.  One of two free throws for Union tied the game at 18 with 3:32 left in the half.  It marked the first tie game since 0-0.  A triple from Shanique Lucas gave Union its first lead of the game at 21-20 with 1:50 left in the half.  Searcey dished a nice pass to Curry for a score.  Morrison answered with a triple at the other end, but the lead was short lived as junior Tamiya Francis buried one from deep and Union's Naomi Van Nes scored the final bucket of the half for a 26-25 Union lead at the break as Union outscored VSU 17-9 in the second quarter.  
 
For the half, VSU shot 8 of 21 from the field for a 38.1 average, while it was 2 of 5 from deep and 7 of 8 from the line.  Union was 9 of 26 from the field for a 34.6 average, while it was 3 of 8 from beyond the arc and 5 of 9 from the line.  VSU held a 20-13 lead in rebounding, but committed 15 turnovers leading to a 9-7 lead in points off turnovers for Union.  
 
Back-to-back field goals from Ards gave VSU a 31-28 lead with 6:49 left in the third.  Searcey scored on a reverse layup, pushing the lead back to three at 35-32.  She then dished to senior Shanice Nelson in transition for a 37-32 lead.  Curry pushed the lead back to four and then the Lady Blazers forced the offensive foul at the other end.   Searcey and Curry combined once again for a 41-36 lead in the closing seconds of the third quarter and the Lady Blazers forced a shot clock violation at the buzzer.  
 
VSU shot 8 of 9 from the field in the third quarter and outscored the Lady Bulldogs 16-10, while Union was 4 of 9 from the to begin the second half and 2 of 4 from the line, while VSU was 0 of 2 from the stripe.  Neither team connected on a trey in the quarter.  
 
The Lady Blazers started to struggle at the line as they missed five-straight with Searcey making one of two and a 42-38 lead with eight minutes left in regulation.  A steal by Lucas and layup tied the score at 42 with 7:32 left as Union began the frame on a 6-1 run.  
 
Union forced another turnover in the backcourt and Leah Cauble scored the "and one" for a 45-43 Union lead with six minutes left.  Curry tied the score with two free throws, but a triple from Lauren West and a steal and score from Lucas pushed the Union lead to 50-45 with 5:24 remaining as Union began the quarter on a 14-4 run.   
 
Searcey cut the deficit to one at 50-49 with the first made field goal of the quarter for VSU with 2:55 remaining and her ninth point of the game.  She then hit Long in transition for a 51-50 lead to erase the deficit.  After one of two free throws from Union, Searcey threw the baseball pass and Ards was fouled making one of two tosses.  Sophomore Kate Tanner came up with a turnover and scored the "and one" off her own offensive rebound for a 55-51 score and 1:45 to play.  
 
West drained her fourth triple of the game as the shock clock was winding down with 1:13 to play and cut the VSU lead to 55-54.  A kicked ball gave VSU 20 seconds on the shot clock and 51.1 remaining in regulation.  VSU kept the ball on a team rebound with 39.6 seconds left and ten seconds on the shot clock.  Long earned two tosses making both for a 57-54 lead.  After a Union timeout, a block from Long and foul on the Bulldogs sent Ards to the line with 33.5 seconds left.  Ards made both for a 59-54 lead.  Strong defense from Searcey forced Thompson into a turnover with 25.1 seconds left.  Two missed 3's by the Lady Bulldogs and a rebound from Tanner, her seventh, led to free throws for a 60-54 lead with 8.3 seconds left.  VSU went on for the victory as it was strong down the stretch from the line, going 13 of 19 from the stripe in the fourth quarter.  For the second half alone, VSU didn't attempt a 3-pointer and was 11 of 17 from the field, while going 13 of 21 from the line.  The Lady Blazers were 8 of 21 from the field, 2 of 5 from deep and 7 of 8 from the line in the first half.
 
VSU concludes its four game homestand Tuesday at 6 p.m. versus Christian Brothers at The Complex for Military Appreciation Night.  In addition, VSU is offering a buy-one-get-one deal for all general admission tickets for Blazer men's and women's basketball home games the rest of December.  Tickets can be purchased at the door, or by visiting the VSU Athletic Ticket Office in The Complex from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.  Call 229-333-SEAT (7328) for more information on Blazer and Lady Blazer tickets.