VALDOSTA, Ga. – An 11-1 run to start the second half sparked the Valdosta State women's basketball team to a 72-59 victory over visiting Clayton State Tuesday evening at The Complex.  
 
VSU improved to 3-1 on the young season and was led by 13 points from junior Kalifa Ford who was 4 of 6 from the field and 5 of 5 from the line, while senior Tamiya Francis chipped in 12 points on 4 of 8 from the field, 2 of 3 from deep and 2 of 2 from the line, including two big buckets in the closing minutes to push the lead back out to double-digits.  Junior Victoria Ikenasio added 11 points off the bench on 5 of 7 from the field.  
 
Clayton State (0-5) was led by 16 points from Jadah Waite with 14 points in the first half and just two in the second.  She finished 6 of 9 from the line, while she went 4 of 6 from distance as the only Laker in double figures.  
 
The Lady Blazers shot 56.5 percent for the game on 26 of 46 from the field, while it was 5 of 14 from distance and 15 of 19 from the line.  VSU outrebounded the Lakers 32-21 and 23-10 on the defensive end.  After a fast start by the Lakers, VSU clamped down and held CSU to just 19 of 53 from the field for 35.8 percent, while the Lakers kept close at 9 of 20 from distance and 12 of 19 from the line.  VSU held the Lakers to just 7 of 29 from the field in the second half.  
 
The game had 57 total turnovers with 31 from VSU and 26 from CSU, along with a combined 50 points scored off the miscues as VSU scored 23 and the Lakers had 17.
 
The Lakers raced out to a 5-0 lead through the first minute, before Ikenasio got the Lady Blazers on the board off a nice assist from junior Taylor Searcey for a 5-2 score with 8:42 to go in the opening frame.  Waite buried her second triple of the game for a 10-2 lead with seven minutes to play in the quarter and a timeout by VSU.  CSU started the game making its first four shots with two from downtown.
 
Senior Aleisha Curry earned the "and one" ending a scoring drought of over four minutes pulling VSU within 11-5 and then senior Tamiya Francis buried a triple following a Laker miss for an 11-8 score and 4:05 to play in the quarter.  Junior Courtney Stothard picked Tamaria White's pocket and scored for an 11-10 deficit with 2:37 to play.  Stothard continued the hot hand, following a missed shot by the Lakers, for a driving layup giving VSU its first lead of the game at 12-11 with 1:27 to play in the quarter.  After a bucket from CSU, Stothard hit one downtown for a 15-13 lead and seven points to her credit to that point.  Nylah Williams tied the game with a layup at 15 through ten minutes.  
 
For the first quarter, VSU shot 6 of 12 from the field after starting 1 of 4, while CSU was 6 of 10.  Both teams went 2 of 4 from beyond the arc and each had one free throw made.  Both teams committed seven turnovers for the frame.  Stothard had seven points for VSU, while Waite had six for the Lakers.
 
The teams went back and forth in the second quarter as senior Emma Martin gave VSU a 21-19 lead with 6:55 to play in the half.  CSU's Hannah Wright hit a long-range shot giving the Lakers the lead at 22-21 with five minutes to play.  Turnovers plagued the Lady Blazers in the quarter with 13 miscues, but Clayton State was only able to manage nine points off the 20 turnovers for the half as CSU held a 31-26 lead at the break.  CSU presses on just about every possession defensively and usually commits two players to the ball on defense creating havoc.  
 
VSU shot 9 of 21 from the field for the half, but was just 3 of 9 from the field in the second quarter, while Clayton State shot 12 of 24 from the field for the half.  CSU was 5 of 10 from deep, while VSU was 3 of 9.  The Lady Blazers were 5 of 8 from the line and CSU was 2 of 5.  VSU held a 15-10 lead in rebounding and forced CSU into 15 turnovers, also scoring nine points off the miscues.  
 
Waite was 5 of 5 from the field for the Lakers and 4 of 4 from beyond the arc for a game-high 14 points, while Stothard had seven points – all in the first quarter off the bench for the Lady Blazers.  
 
VSU opened the third quarter with an 11-1 run and went 10 of 14 from the field for the quarter building a 54-44 lead through three frames.  The Lady Blazers settled down and had just five turnovers for the frame, while forcing numerous charges on CSU and the Lakers into seven turnovers and 22 for the game, while the fouls began to mount for the Lakers.  VSU outscored CSU 28-13 in the third frame.
 
Junior Jacey Justice scored for a 56-44 lead with 9:22 to go.  Ikenasio scored her 11^th point of the game pushing the lead to 60-46 with 7:47 to play and the largest lead of the game to that point.  VSU built the lead to 16, but a triple from Jada Alston brought CSU within 64-51 with 4:18 to go.  Following a turnover on the Lady Blazers, an offensive rebound from CSU and a triple from Zoe Wiltz pulled the Lakers within 64-54 and 3:45 to play.  Two free throws from Alston pulled CSU within 64-56 with 2:51 to play, as it used a 10-2 run since Ford's bucket with 5:49 to go. 
 
One final push by the Lady Blazers moved the needle back into double-digits as VSU outscored the Lakers 8-3 the rest of the way. 
 
VSU travels to Lee on Saturday to open Gulf South Conference play at 2 p.m., followed by a trip to Shorter on Monday, Nov. 27 at 5:30 p.m.  Fans can listen to both games on 94.3 WJEM FM Fox Sports Valdosta with Jack Calhoun having the call.  Check back with vstateblazers.com on the women's basketball schedule page for links to live stats and audio/video streaming of the games.