VALDOSTA, Ga. – Riding a seven-game winning streak, the No. 24 Valdosta State women's basketball team is scheduled to close the 2021-22 regular season Saturday at 4 p.m. at rival West Georgia in the Red Clay Rivalry.
 
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 live on Talk 92.1 FM WDDQ with Spencer Van Horn having the call and on www.talk921.com. 
 
VSU leads the inaugural Red Clay Rivalry series with West Georgia, 4-1, with wins in football and soccer, while finishing higher in the Gulf South Conference Championship in both men's and women's cross country for one point per program.  UWG won both meetings in volleyball for the season sweep and one point.  The Lady Blazers won the first meeting in women's basketball versus UWG, 63-37 on Dec. 4, in Valdosta.  The VSU men's basketball team lost to UWG on Dec. 4, 86-79. 
 
The Lady Blazers enter the week with a 21-4 record overall and a 16-2 mark in GSC play.  The current seven game winning streak matches the longest of the season, which went from Dec. 18, 2021, with a 77-68 victory over Montevallo to a heartbreaking 59-56 loss at then-No. 15 Union on Jan. 22, 2022.  VSU has locked up the No. 2-seed in the upcoming Gulf South Conference Championship next week and will host the No. 7-seed on "Super Tuesday" Mar. 1, at 7 p.m., in The Complex for the quarterfinal round of the championship.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for information on who the Lady Blazers will face on Mar. 1. 
 
Click here for information on how to purchase tickets for the Mar. 1 game.  The semifinal and championship rounds of the conference tournament are scheduled for Mar. 5-6 in Birmingham, Ala., at the Pete Hanna Center on the campus of Samford University.
 
VSU returned to the top 25 this week at No. 24 in the latest WBCA Top 25 and moved back into the D2SIDA Top 25 at 17^th this week after receiving votes last week.  In the D2SIDA Top 25, Union is fourth, while VSU is 17^th, followed by Tampa at 21^st and Savannah State is among others receiving votes.  In the WBCA Top 25, Union is third, while Savannah State is 12^th, Eckerd is 17^th, Tampa 18^th and VSU is 24^th.  Lee is among others receiving votes.
 
The second NCAA South Region Poll was announced Wednesday afternoon as VSU moved to No. 3 this week after being in the fourth position in the first poll last week.  Union again leads the poll this week, followed by Tampa, Eckerd, the Lady Blazers and Lee rounds out the top five.  Savannah State moved from eighth to sixth this week, followed by Florida Southern, Benedict, Tuskegee and West Florida remained tenth. There will be one more public ranking next Wednesday, followed by the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Selection Show, scheduled for Sunday, Mar. 6 in the evening.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for more information on the Selection Show.
 
Last week the Lady Blazers closed the home season with two important victories, including a thrilling 52-51 victory over No. 25 Lee, where graduate student Kwajelin Farrar stole a pass and flipped it to sophomore Tamiya Francis who scored a layup with 0.8 seconds remaining for the victory.  VSU then downed Shorter on Senior Day, 77-35 to improve to 14-1 at The Complex this season.  VSU won its 20^th and 21^st games last week, marking the first 20-plus win season for the Lady Blazers since 2018-19, when they went 21-10.  This also marked the 17^th season of 20 or more victories in program history.  VSU went a school-record 30-3 during the 1983-84 season.
 
West Georgia enters with a 9-13 record overall and a 6-11 mark in the GSC.  The Wolves will play at West Florida on Wednesday evening, before returning home to host the Lady Blazers on Saturday.  The Wolves' game at UWF is do or die as a loss keeps UWG out of the conference tournament next week, in addition to losses by Montevallo and Christian Brothers.
 
Entering the week, UWG is shooting .390 from the field on 522 of 1338, while it is 145 of 478 from deep (.303) and 259 of 391 from the line for a .662 clip.  The Wolves average 38.7 rebounds per game and score 65.8 points per contest.  The opposition is shooting at a .396 clip on 553 of 1395, while draining 165 from beyond the arc for a .331 clip and is 230 of 315 from the line for a .730 average.  The opponents are averaging 40.8 rebounds per game and 68.2 points per game.  Siera Carter is the lone UWG player in double figures averaging 16.6 points per game on 135 of 319 for a .419 average.  She leads the team with 40 buckets from beyond the arc and 56 free throws.  Jaylin Austin averages a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game.
 
VSU has won 14 of the last 24 games in the series dating back to 2011 and has won five-straight, including a 63-37 victory in the GSC opener on Dec. 4, 2021, at The Complex.  In that game, the Lady Blazers opened the game with an 11-2 run for the first quarter and lead 20-10 at halftime, before a 20-7 third quarter to blow the game open.  Farrar had a game-high 14 points and ten rebounds, while graduate student Nicole Heyn finished with 12 points and freshman Taylor Searcey added 11 points off the bench.  No UWG player reached double figures in the game.  VSU has won its last two road games at UWG in 2020-21, but hadn't won in Carrollton prior to that since a 70-67 victory on Feb. 8, 2018.  Since 2011, VSU is 4-8 in Carrollton.
 
This season, the Lady Blazers are sixth nationally and tops in the GSC in scoring defense allowing just 52.7 points per game.  VSU is 15^th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense, holding teams to a .255 clip from beyond the arc and 14^th nationally in field goal percentage defense at a .255 clip.  The Lady Blazers are 16^th nationally in scoring margin at 16.2 points per game and 20^th in rebounding margin at an 8.0 clip.  VSU is 33^rd nationally and tops in the league in assists per game at 15.8, while it is 37^th in 3-point field goal percentage for second in the league at a .345 clip. 
 
Individually, Heyn is eighth nationally and second in the GSC in 3-point field goal percentage at a .442 average as she has made 46 treys for the season to tie for the team-lead with graduate student Delaney Bernard.  Heyn is fifth in the GSC in steals per game at 2.05 per contest, while she is fifth in the league in total seals (45) and fifth in defensive rebounds per game (6.1).  Her 7.6 rebounding average is good for ninth in the league.  Farrar is 15^th nationally and third in the GSC in field goal percentage at a .568 clip on 158 of 278. Her 158 field goals made are good for second in the GSC.  She leads the league in offensive rebounds per game at 3.9 for 26^th nationally, while she is fifth in the league in total rebounds (209) and seventh in rebounds per game (8.4).