VALDOSTA, Ga. – Coming off a split at Shorter and Lee last weekend, the Valdosta State women's basketball team returns home to host Mississippi College and Delta State this week at The Complex.
 
The Lady Blazers and Choctaws are scheduled to tip at 6 p.m. on Thurs., Jan. 19, while VSU and Delta State are set to battle on Sat., Jan. 21 at 2 p.m., for Hall of Fame Weekend.  The Lady Blazers won both meetings earlier in the season in Mississippi by two points in each game.  
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com.  Thursday's game also will be broadcast on 94.3 WJEM FM in Valdosta with Mike Chason having the call and online at www.foxsportsvaldosta.com, while Saturday's game will be broadcast on both 92.1 WDDQ FM and 94.3 WJEM FM and online at www.talk921.com and www.foxsportsvaldosta.com.  
 
VSU is 13-3 overall and 12-2 in Gulf South Conference play as it is second in the league standings entering the week behind 13-1 Lee.  VSU has a one game lead over both Union and West Florida (11-3), while Montevallo is fifth at 7-7.  Mississippi College enters with a 4-13 record overall and a 3-11 mark in league play, while Delta State is 7-11 overall and 6-8 in conference play as it is tied for eighth in the league standings.  
 
Heading into the week, VSU is tied for fifth in the D2SIDA South Region Poll with Union.  West Florida moved up to eighth this week from ninth, while Lee fell from second to third.  In the DS2SIDA Top 25, Lee is 22^nd being the only team in the conference ranked or receiving votes in the poll.  Georgia Southwestern, from the Southeast Region and only loss is to VSU, is eighth.  Among teams from the South Region in the poll are Tampa at ninth and Eckerd at 17^th.   
 
The Lady Blazers lead the all-time series with Mississippi College 22-12, dating back to Jan. 20, 1977.  VSU has won the last two meetings in the series, including the 55-53 victory this season, and six of the last eight.  MC swept the season series in 2019-20, with a 76-55 win in Clinton and a 77-64 victory in Valdosta that season.  VSU won 76-58 in Valdosta on Jan. 15, 2022 and then earlier this season in Clinton, Miss.  VSU head coach Deandra Schirmer is 2-2 against MC as she is 75-24 in her fourth season at the helm of the Lady Blazers.
 
VSU withstood a fourth quarter surge by MC for the thrilling 55-53 victory as junior Tamiya Francis had a team-high 16 points and junior Emma Martin finished with 12 points – all on 3-pointers, including two huge treys down the stretch.  After shooting a combined 14 of 27 from the field in the first half, VSU was just 6 of 28 in the second half from the field, but Martin buried her two biggest daggers from deep with under five minutes remaining on back-to-back possessions as MC had cut the deficit to one with six minutes to play for a 55-48 lead.  MC wouldn't go away quietly, however, as it pulled within 55-53 with 1:21 to play, but was unable to get the tying basket.  MC's Kyiah Julian had a team-high 16 points.  
 
Two days prior, VSU was in another dog fight as the Lady Blazers pulled out a 44-42 victory at Delta State.  Francis led the way with 11 points, while sophomore Taylor Searcey added ten points.  DSU's Alanna Smith had a game-high 14 points, while Camryn Davis chipped in 12 points.  Lady Blazer sophomore Kate Tanner scored inside for a 43-40 lead with 1:24 to play.  Smith earned an "and one" but missed the free throw for a 44-42 score with 38 seconds left.  A turnover on the Lady Blazers gave DSU a chance to tie or take the lead with a triple, but was unable to do so in the closing seconds.   The Lady Blazers have won the last three meetings in the series and are 14-41 all-time against the Lady Statesmen and have won nine of 12 dating back to 2017.  Schirmer is 3-2 against DSU.  
 
VSU had two road battles last week with a hard-fought victory over an upset-minded Shorter squad (63-56) and then couldn't quite get the comeback in a 59-50 loss at No. 13/22 Lee.  The short-handed Lady Blazers fought until the very end as they were missing both Francis and junior Lili Long.  Searcey averaged a team-best 11.5 points for the week on 7 of 14 from the field and 9 of 10 from the line, while she averaged 5.0 rebounds per game.  Senior Jirah Ards and junior Aleisha Curry were second on the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game, while Ards led the way averaging 5.5 rebounds per game.  VSU shot .409 from the field on 38 of 93, while it was just 7 of 34 from distance (.206) and 30 of 43 from the line for a .698 clip.  VSU averaged 26.0 rebounds per game for the two contests and 56.5 points per game.  Conversely, the opposition shot .438 for the field on 42 of 96, while it was 8 of 31 from beyond the arc and 23 of 36 from the line.  The opponents averaged 28.5 rebounds per game and 57.5 points per contest.  VSU outscored the opponents 37-27 in the fourth quarter, but the opposition held a 29-17 lead in the second quarter and a 59-44 advantage in the first half, while VSU outscored the opponents 69-56 in the second half.  
 
For the season, the Lady Blazers are third in the GSC in field goal percentage at a .435 clip on 355 of 817 from the field for 41^stnationally, while the team is second in the GSC in free throw attempts per game (19.12), and second in free throws made per game (13.81) and third in free throw percentage at a .722 clip on 221 of 306 from the line.  VSU is 19^th nationally in scoring defense at a 56.1 clip for second in the league, while the Lady Blazers are second in 3-point field goal percentage at a .339 clip on 100 of 295 from beyond the arc.  VSU is second in the GSC in turnovers forced per game at a 20.94 average, while it is fourth in turnover margin at a 3.38 clip.  Individually, Searcey is second in the GSC in free throw percentage at an .877 clip for 30^th nationally 64 of 73 from the line.  Ards is fourth in the league and 42^nd nationally in steals with 40 and third in the league in steals per game at a 2.67 clip for 31^st nationally.  Martin is seventh in the league in made 3-pointers with 30, while she is eighth in the league in 3-pointers per game at a 1.88 clip.  
 
The Choctaws are led by Julian who is averaging 11.6 points per game and she averages 4.3 rebounds per game for second on the team.  Julian is 58 of 188 from the field (.309), while she leads the team from distance on 33 of 95 (.347) and is a team-best 49 of 58 from the line (.845).  She has 31 assists to lead the team and a team-high 18 steals.  As a team, the Choctaws are shooting .351 from the field on 314 of 894, while they are 96 of 296 from distance (.324) and 206 of 288 from the line (.715).  MC is averaging 54.7 points per game and 33.8 rebounds per game.  The opposition is shooting .425 against the Choctaws, while the opponents are 102 of 284 from beyond the arc (.359) and 231 of 314 from the line (.736).  The opposition is averaging 65.7 points per game and 31.8 rebounds per contest.  Head coach Greg Long is in his third year at the helm of the Choctaws and fourth season of coaching.  He is 42-46 all-time with one season at Arkansas-Monticello (2019-20) and three seasons at MC (22-35).  Jones is 0-2 against VSU.
 
The Lady Statesmen enter the week on a three-game skid and will play at West Florida on Thursday, before heading to Titletown for Saturday's matchup.  Davis leads the team averaging 13.8 points per game on 98 of 219 from the field (.447).  She is a team-best 52 of 69 from the line (.754) and is averaging a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game.  Michelle Smith is second in scoring at 10.6 points per game on 51 of 128 from the field.  She is 17 of 47 from distance and 23 of 26 from the line.  She is second on the team in assists (34) and second in steals (17).  As a team, the Lady Statesmen are shooting .395 from the field on 374 of 946, while they are 54 of 211 from beyond the arc (.256) and 195 of 273 from the line for a .714 average.  DSU is averaging 32.2 rebounds per game (allowing 29.6) and scoring 55.4 points per game.  The opponents are shooting just .376 against DSU on 371 of 987, while they are 93 of 338 from distance (.275) and 207 of 306 from the line (.676).  The opponents are scoring 57.9 points per game.  Head coach Tracy Stewart-Lange is in her first season at DSU and is 7-11 there, while she is in her 22^nd season of coaching with a 397-265 record with stops at Lyon College and Arkansas Little Rock. 
 
Following the two games this week, the Lady Blazers return to the road for games at West Georgia (Jan. 28), followed by opening the final month of the regular season at Christian Brothers (Feb. 2) and at Union (Feb. 4).  The Lady Blazers return home to host West Florida on Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. at The Complex.