VALDOSTA, Ga. – Riding a nine-game winning streak, the No. 21 Valdosta State women's basketball team battles rival Lee in the Gulf South Conference Semifinals Saturday, Mar. 5 at 3:15 p.m. ET at the Pete Hanna Center on the campus of Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.
 
The Lady Blazers, the No. 2-seed in the tournament, enter with a 23-4 record overall and went a school-best 17-2 in GSC play this season, while Lee, the No. 3-seed, enters with a 23-6 mark overall and went 15-5 in league play.  This will be the rubber-match of the series this season as both teams won on their home courts during the regular season.  VSU posted a thrilling 52-51 victory in Valdosta on Feb. 17, where sophomore Tamiya Francis scored off a steal by graduate student Kwajelin Farrar with 0.8 seconds left for the victory in one of the more memorable finishes in recent memory. 
 
VSU won 72-41 on Tuesday evening in The Complex over No. 7-seed West Alabama as it outscored the Tigers 24-3 in the fourth quarter, using a 24-1 over the final seven minutes.  UWA had cut the deficit to eight at 48-40 before the run.  The Tigers went 0 of 9 from the field in the final stanza and 0 of 2 from deep.  VSU forced 27 turnovers by the Tigers en route to a 30-4 advantage in points off turnovers for the game.  Graduate student Nicole Heyn led the Lady Blazers with 19 points and six rebounds on 6 of 10 from the field, while she was 2 of 4 from range and 5 of 5 from the line.  Farrar finished with 17 points and eight rebounds and graduate student Delaney Bernard added 14 points with four treys and two free throws.  VSU won its 15^th game at The Complex (15-1) surpassing the previous mark of 14 victories (14-1) set in 2017-18. 
 
Farrar and Heyn were named First Team All-GSC, which was announced Tuesday.  VSU was the only school in the league with two players earning first team accolades.  Lee's Haley Schubert also earned first team honors.  Of the remaining four teams in the tournament, Union's Jaelencia Williams, who was named GSC Player of the Year, earned first team honors, while teammate Ashtyn Baker was a second team selection.  Delta State's Zyaire Ewing earned second team honors as well.  
 
This marks the 18^th time VSU has qualified for the semifinal round as it improved to 24-27 all-time in 31 appearances overall in the GSC Tournament with the win Tuesday. Fans can access links to live stats and audio/video streaming of the game at vstateblazers.com on the women's basketball schedule page.  Click here for the GSC Women's Basketball Championship Central Page.  The game will be broadcast on 92.1 WDDQ FM with Mike Chason having the call.  
 
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Along with VSU and Lee, top-seeded Union and No. 5-seed Delta State battle in the other semifinal.  Union beat DSU by double-digits in both meetings this season.  VSU is 1-1 against Lee, 1-0 against Delta State and 0-1 against Union this season.  
 
The Lady Blazers held a 35-22 lead at halftime at Union, but the Bulldogs roared back, outscoring VSU 37-21 in the second half for the 59-56 victory on Jan. 22.  VSU shot 48 percent for the game, but was just 3 of 8 from the line, while Union went 10 of 12 from the stripe.  Williams had 18 points for Union, while Farrar had a game-high 19 points for the Lady Blazers.  Against Delta State, VSU won 47-35 in a defensive struggle on Jan. 13 in Valdosta.  Farrar led the Lady Blazers with 11 points.  VSU went 13 of 19 from the line, while DSU was 5 of 12 on freebies.  Camryn Davis had ten points and ten rebounds for the Lady Statesmen.
 
Saturday marks the second-straight season VSU and Lee have clashed in the GSC semifinals as Lee won 74-71 last season.  Bernard hit a triple putting VSU up 72-69 with 2:31 left.  Lee's Julia Duncan hit a triple with 1:27 remaining for a 72-71 Lee lead.  Two costly turnovers on the Lady Blazers ensued as VSU didn't score the rest of the game.  This marks the eighth meeting between the two teams since 2020 began.
 
VSU is 1-2 all-time against Lee in the conference tournament and 1-1 in the semifinal round with the win being in 2017 in a 64-61 decision as VSU went on for the league title in a 91-79 overtime victory over West Florida.  Lee won the 2019 league title over VSU with an 81-73 decision.  Since Lee joined the GSC, it is 10-5 all-time and has reached the semifinal round each of its seven trips and made the championship twice with one victory.
 
On Wednesday, the final public NCAA region rankings were announced and VSU, despite being third last week and winning nine-straight games, dropped to fourth in this week's rankings.  Union and Tampa continue to lead the poll at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, while Eckerd moved back to third, followed by VSU and Lee remained fifth.  Savannah State is sixth, followed by Florida Southern and Benedict round out the top eight.  Tuskegee sits ninth and West Florida is tenth.  
 
The top eight teams in the region will qualify for the NCAA South Region Championship when the selections are made public on Mar. 6.  The No. 1-ranked team in the region most likely will host the NCAA South Regional Mar. 11-14, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala., for the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. 
 
The NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Selection Show is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET on Mar. 6 and will be streamed live on NCAA.com.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for a direct link to the stream of the show.
 
In the two meetings with Lee this season, they were more defensive tussles as VSU shot .343 from the field (35-102), while Lee was 36 of 98 for a .367 clip.  VSU struggled from beyond the arc, going 4 of 31 (.129), while Lee was 13 of 46 (.283).  The Lady Blazers also struggled at the line, going 23 of 45 (.511), while the Lady Flames were 23 of 31 (.710).  The teams were almost even in rebounding at 35 rebounds per game and allowed, while the Lady Blazers averaged 48.5 points per game and allowed 53.5 points per contest. 
 
Individually, VSU has found success inside as Farrar averaged 15.5 points per game in the two meetings and 9.5 rebounds per game.  Freshman Taylor Searcey averaged 11.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in the series thus far, going a team-best 11 of 17 from the field (.647) against Lee.  Heyn also has been solid on the glass, averaging 6.0 rebounds in the series.  Two different Lady Flames have averaged double figures in the series this season, playing in both contests, led by Morgan Carbaugh who is 7 of 13 from the field and 5 of 11 from deep for a 10.5 average, while Schubert averaged 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.  
 
For the season, VSU is averaging 69.4 points per game and allowing 52.4 per contest for fifth nationally in scoring defense to lead the GSC.  The Lady Blazers are 13^th nationally in scoring margin at 17.0 per contest.  Continuing with the defensive theme, the Lady Blazers are 14^th nationally in 3-point field goal defense, holding teams to a .255 clip on 134 of 526, while VSU is 18^th nationally and tops in the league in field goal percentage defense at a .349 clip on 496 of 1421. 
 
Offensively, the Lady Blazers lead the GSC in assists per game at a 15.7 clip for 31^st nationally, while the team is fourth in field goa percentage in the league at a .441 clip on 671 of 1522 for 37^th nationally.  VSU is 22^nd nationally and second in the league in rebounding margin at 7.9, while the team is fourth in the league in rebounds per game at a 39.3 clip.  Individually, Farrar is 29^th nationally in offensive rebounds per game at a 3.8 average, while she is 15^thnationally in field goal percentage at a .566 clip on 171 of 302 from the field.  Farrar is averaging 8.2 rebounds per game for seventh in the league.  Sharpshooting Heyn is 11^th nationally and third in the league in 3-point field goal percentage at a .439 clip on 50 of 114 from range.  Heyn is fourth in the league in thefts with 50 and a 2.08 average per game for fifth in the conference.  Francis is fourth in the league in assists with 106 and fourth in assists per game at a 3.9 clip. 
 
Head coach Deandra Schirmer is in her third season at the helm of the Lady Blazers and is 59-19 as head coach.  Schirmer is 5-3 against Lee.  She is 2-2 against Delta State and 0-3 against Union.  Lee head coach Marty Rowe is 592-185 in his 24^th season at the helm of the Lady Flames.  He is 10-12 all-time against VSU. 
 
Under Rowe's guidance, the Lady Flames are led by Schubert this season who is 180 of 431 from the field, while she is 24 of 101 from deep and a team-best 99 of 126 from the line.  Schubert has a team-high 144 assists and 17 steals, while averaging 16.7 points to lead the team.  Halle Hughes is second in scoring at 11.7 points per game.  She is 115 of 230 from the field (.500), while going 42 of 98 from deep (.429) and is second on the team in rebounding at 5.5 per contest.  Hannah Garrett is third in scoring at 10.1 points per game as she is 117 of 250 from the field (.468) and 39 of 113 from beyond the arc (.345).  For the Lady Flames 115 of the 200 made 3-pointers this season have come from the top three scorers, while 412 of 763 made field goals also have come from the trio. 
 
Nationally speaking, Lee is second in the league and 24^th nationally in field goal percentage at a .449 clip, while it is just behind VSU in field goal percentage defense at a .365 clip for 42^nd nationally and second in the league.  Lee also is second to VSU in scoring defense (57.6) for 32^nd nationally, while it is third in the league in scoring margin at a 14.5 average for 24^th nationally.  Lee's 72.1 points per game is good for second in the league and 48^th nationally.  Schubert leads the league with 144 assists for 14^th in the land, while she is 17^th in field goal attempts (431), 37^th in field goals made (180) and 20^th nationally in steals with 71 as all lead the GSC. 
 
VSU leads the all-time series with Lee, 12-10.  The teams have split the last six meetings, while VSU has won five of eight.  The Lady Blazers led the series in neutral site meetings, 2-1, with the most recent being the NCAA postseason in 2021 with a 74-64 win in Dahlonega, Ga.