VALDOSTA, Ga.- Blazer basketball junior Braxton Williams and Lady Blazer basketball senior Aleisha Curry were named Steel's Jewelry Athletes of the Week. This is the first Steel's Jewelry of the Week award for both Williams and Curry this season. Both players were also named Gulf South Conference players of the week, announced by the league office Tuesday.
 
Williams had his best week as a Blazer, averaging 17.6 PPG, 2.3 APG, and 0.7 SPG over two games on 20-29 (68.9%) shooting from the field, 4-7 (55.1%) from three, and 9-12 (75%) from the charity stripe. The Coastal Alabama South transfer helped lead the Blazers to a 2-1 record over the past week, defeating Shorter on the road Monday, Nov. 27 78-62 and defeating Mississippi College on Sunday 77-69 after falling to Delta State on Friday night 74-77. On Sunday afternoon, Williams scored his career high at Valdosta State with 30 points on 11-15 from the floor, 2-3 from behind the arc, and 6-8 from the line. He also committed zero turnovers for the week. In Friday's close contest, he had 20 points, six assists, and two steals.
 
For the season, Williams is averaging 11.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists on 46.3% from the field, 33% from downtown, and 83.3% from the free throw line.
 
Curry, a native of Lehigh Acres, Fla., helped lead VSU to three conference victories last week at Shorter and at home versus both Delta State and Mississippi College.  Curry averaged 13.3 points to lead the team, while she pulled down 3.7 rebounds per game.  She went 11 of 19 from the field (.579) and was a team-best 18 of 21 from the line (.857).  She had two assists and four steals, while playing 16.4 minutes per game
 
Against Delta State, she scored a season-high 18 points, going 7 of 10 from the field and 4 of 5 from the line, while she was 8 of 9 from the line at Shorter and 6 of 7 from the stripe against Mississippi College.  For the season, Curry is fourth on the team in scoring at 9.8 points per game, while she is 22 of 36 from the field for a team-best .611 clip.  She is a team-high 34 of 38 from the line (.895) and is averaging 2.8 rebounds per game.
 
Williams, Curry and both the Blazers and the Lady Blazers basketball teams are set to begin a three-game road trip on Thursday evening at West Georgia with the women tipping off at 5:30 p.m. and the men starting play shortly after at 7:30 p.m. VSU will then play at Christian Brothers on Dec. 15 and at Union on Dec. 17, prior to the Christmas break.  VSU is set to return home to open the 2024 portion of the schedule on Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. versus West Florida at The Complex.