CARROLLTON, Ga. – Tied 44-44 through three quarters, the Valdosta State women's basketball team outscored West Georgia 17-10 in the final frame for a 61-54 road victory Thursday evening in Gulf South Conference play.  VSU junior Taylor Searcey had a team-high 14 points and ten rebounds for her second double-double of the season, leading three Lady Blazers in double figures.
 
Entering the final stanza, buckets from junior Victoria Ikenasio and senior Lilly Long gave the visitors a 48-44 lead with 7:56 to play.  UWG used a layup from Jada Powell and a 3-pointer from leading scorer Anna Gernatt for a 49-48 lead with 6:19 to go.  On the ensuing possession, senior Tamiya Francis, who played in her first game since Nov. 21, answered right back with a triple of her own and a 51-49 advantage. UWG would tie the game at 51 on a layup off a steal, but Francis put VSU in front for good with a layup with 2:27 remaining.  The Wolves had a chance to tie, but Powell missed two costly free throws. 
 
Francis was true on two tosses of her own for a 55-51 advantage and 1:34 to play.  Searcey pulled down a huge rebound following a Mykah Anderson miss for her tenth rebound of the game and she later scored off a steal for a 57-51 lead with 33 seconds to play.  Searcey, along with Francis and senior Gulf South Conference Player of the Week Aleisha Curry made a combined four of six free throws in the closing minute to seal the victory.  VSU went 6 of 8 from the stripe in the final frame, while UWG was 0 of 2.
 
The Lady Blazers improved to 7-2 on the year and 4-1 in GSC play as they ran their winning streak to nine-straight over West Georgia, including winning the last five in Carrollton.  UWG fell to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in league play.  VSU earned a half a point also in the Red Clay Rivalry Series for the victory, pulling within 3.0 to 2.5 with the men's game still on tap for Thursday evening.
 
Searcey finished 4 of 10 from the field, 1 of 2 from distance and 5 of 7 from the line for the game, while junior Kalifa Ford added 12 points off the bench on 5 of 8 from the field and 2 of 4 from the line and Francis had 11 points, despite going 2 of 9 from the field with one triple, but made up for it on a perfect 6 of 6 from the stripe.
 
As a team, VSU shot 21 of 48 from the field for 43.8 percent, while it was just 3 of 10 from beyond the arc and 16 of 23 from the line as UWG was just 5 of 10 from the free throw line.  The Lady Blazers held a 39-24 lead in rebounding for the game.  
 
UWG forced 22 miscues leading to a 16-14 advantage in points off turnovers and had 13 steals in the contest.  VSU held the Wolves to 21 of 54 from the field for 38.9 percent, while UWG was 7 of 28 from beyond the arc.  Powell had a game-high 16 points and 11 rebounds on 7 of 9 from the field, while she was 2 of 6 from the line.  Gernatt finished 5 of 13 from the field and 5 of 11 from distance for 15 points as the only two players in double figures for UWG.  The game saw eight ties and nine lead changes. 
 
UWG raced out to a 9-4 lead on a pair of tosses from Powell.  The Lady Blazers responded using a 10-3 run for a 14-12 lead on a jumper from Ford with 2:03 to play in the first quarter.  Searcey broke a 14-14 score with a triple and VSU led 17-16 through the first stanza.  Neither team gained much of an advantage in the second quarter as VSU held a 27-23 lead at the break.
 
The Wolves came out firing in the third quarter, using a 9-1 run to begin the second half, highlighted by triples from Gernatt and Zuriyah Davis for 35-28 lead with 5:29 left in the quarter.  VSU calmly kept chipping away with an 8-3 run for a 39-36 deficit with 3:30 to play and Searcey tied the game at 44 with a pair of free throws for the final points of the quarter. 
 
VSU returns home to prepare for two more road games next week at Christian Brothers on Friday, Dec. 15 at 6 p.m. ET and at Union on Sunday, Dec. 17 at 3 p.m. ET, prior to the Christmas break.  The Lady Blazers then will open the 2024 portion of the schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. at The Complex versus rival West Florida.