VALDOSTA, Ga. – The defending NCAA Division II Women's Basketball South Region champions, the Valdosta State Lady Blazers, head to the University of Tampa for the NCAA South Region Tournament.  VSU, the No. 6-seed in the regional, will battle a familiar foe in No. 3-seed Union on Friday at 12 p.m.
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the women's basketball schedule page.  The game Friday also will be broadcast on TALK 92.1 WDDQ FM in Valdosta and www.talk921.com, with Mike Chason having the call.  Click here for the NCAA South Region Championship Central webpage.
 
Top-seeded Tampa earned hosting duties, while Eckerd earned the No. 2-seed, followed by Union, Lee and Lynn to round out the top five.  VSU was sixth, followed by Nova Southeastern and Tuskegee won the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) title and is the No. 8-seed.  If VSU were to defeat Union, it would face the winner of Eckerd/Nova Southeastern on Saturday at 5 p.m., with a trip to the championship game on the line for Monday, Mar. 13 at 7 p.m.  
 
The winner of the regional will advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in St. Joseph, Mo., Mar. 21-22, and the NCAA Division II National Championship Game is set for Apr. 1 in Dallas, Texas, at American Airlines Center in conjunction with the Division I Women's Final Four.
 
VSU, who defeated Union on its home court in 2022 to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1984, is one of seven region winners from last season to qualify for the postseason in 2023.  Defending national champion Glenville State, national runner-up Western Washington, North Georgia, Grand Valley State, Missouri Southern and VSU all return to the field of 64 this season.  The Lady Blazers handed Union its only home loss of the season a year ago, 66-58 in the Sweet Sixteen.  VSU also defeated Tampa and Lee in the region last season and was one of three No. 7-seeds to reach the Elite Eight in 2022.
 
The Lady Blazers, who are under the direction of fourth-year head coach Deandra Schrimer, went a program best 20-4 in Gulf South Conference play in 2022-23, and won an overtime thriller over Montevallo 71-66 in the first round of the Gulf South Conference Tournament on Feb. 28, before falling to Lee in the GSC Semifinals on Saturday.  Schirmer is 84-27 at VSU. 
 
Union claimed its fourth-straight Gulf South Conference Tournament title with a 76-68 victory over Lee on Sunday afternoon as the Lady Bulldogs are 26-3 overall and went 21-3 in Gulf South Conference play this season, tying Lee for the regular season title. 
 
VSU and Union split two meetings this season with each winning on its respective home court.  The Lady Blazers won 60-54 in Valdosta on Dec. 11, 2022, while Union won in Jackson, Tenn., 74-54, on Feb. 4, 2023.  Union leads the all-time series 15-5, but the Lady Blazers have won the last two including the thriller last season in the Sweet Sixteen, 66-58.  Schirmer is 2-3 against Union at VSU.   The Lady Blazers also faced Eckerd this season in the first game of the year, along with Lee three times among teams who qualified for the regional.
 
This is the third time Union and VSU have met in the NCAA postseason.  Union won in Jackson, Tenn., in the Sweet Sixteen, 74-73, while VSU won the thriller last season also in Jackson, Tenn.
 
The Lady Blazers are making their 15^th appearance in the NCAA postseason and are 17-14 all-time in the tournament with a third-place finish in 1984.  Tampa is making its 14^th appearance and is 7-13 all-time, while Eckerd is making its sixth appearance and is 2-5.  Union is making its seventh trip (8-6), while Lee is making its sixth trip (2-5).  Lynn is making its third trip (0-2), Nova Southeastern is making its eighth (14-7) and Tuskegee is making its seventh (4-6).  Nova Southeastern's last appearance was 2019, while Lynn's was 2013 and Tuskegee's was 2021.  The other five teams all qualified for the NCAA postseason in 2022. 
 
The Lady Blazers enter the postseason with a 22-6 record overall and a school-record 20-4 mark in Gulf South Conference play.  The 20 wins tied for the third-most all-time in GSC history.  Union and Lee each had 21 wins in league play this season, sharing the GSC regular season title, while West Florida and VSU each had 20 wins and Union won the regular season in 2015-16 with a 20-2 league record for the most wins prior to this season in league play.
 
VSU is coming off a 1-1 finish in the Gulf South Conference Tournament with a thrilling 71-66 overtime victory on Feb. 28 over Montevallo in the quarterfinal round and lost to Lee 70-52 in the semifinals last Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.  Against Lee, VSU had its third-lowest field goal percentage of the season at a .321 clip on 17 of 53 from the field.  Junior Tamiya Francis was named to the GSC All-Tournament Team and scored 14 points against the Lady Flames on 5 of 15 from the field, but went just 1 of 8 from distance and 3 of 4 from the line.  Junior Aleisha Curry added 11 points off the bench.  Lee was led by 26 points from Haley Schubert as the Lady Flames shot 50.9 percent for the game on 29 of 57 from the floor and 8 of 20 from distance.  Lee was just 4 of 7 from the line in the game, while VSU was 13 of 21.  
 
Union defeated Lee in the championship game on Sunday to claim its fourth-straight Gulf South Conference women's basketball championship.  The Lady Bulldogs are 26-3 entering the NCAA postseason as they bookended 20-point quarters outscoring the Lady Flames 25-16 in the first quarter and 23-14 in the fourth for the 76-68 victory.  Lee won the second and third quarters by a combined score of 38-28.  Union's Shanique Lucas was named the GSC Most Outstanding Player for the second time in her career.  Union's Samariah Thompson also earned all-tournament honors, while Lee's Macy Woodworth, Mallory Hampton and Schubert were named to the team along with Francis from VSU and Haylee Luttrell of West Florida.
 
The Lady Bulldogs enter 14^th nationally and tops in the GSC in scoring offense at 76.4 points per game.  Union also is 14^th nationally and best in the league in scoring defense, allowing just 56.1 points per contest, while it is fourth nationally in scoring margin at 20.2 to lead the league.  The Lady Bulldogs are seventh nationally in 3-point field goal attempts (27.7), 11^th in 3-point field goal percentage (.365) and fifth in 3-pointers made per game (10.1).  Union is ninth in turnover margin (7.66), eighth in turnovers forced per game (22.5) and second in the GSC in turnovers per game at a 14.8 clip.  Union is 23^rd nationally in field goal percentage at a .446 clip for second in the GSC.  

Individually, Lucas is 16^th nationally in steals (81) for second in the league and 15^th nationally in steals per game at a 2.79 clip for second in the league.  Lucas is third in the league in field goal percentage at a .489 clip on 121 of 213 from the floor.  Lauren West leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage at a .424 clip for 19^th nationally in 59 of 139 from distance.  West's 59 made triples is good for second in the GSC.  
 
For the two meetings this season against Union, the Lady Blazers shot .420 from the field on 37 of 88, while they were just 6 of 22 from distance (.273) and 34 of 52 from the line (.654).  VSU held a 34.5 to 26.5 advantage in rebounding, but committed ten more turnovers than Union (48-38).  Union averaged 64.0 points per game to VSU's 57.0, while the Lady Bulldogs shot 43 of 110 from the field (.430), 13 of 38 from deep (.342) and 29 of 39 from the line (.744).  Individually in the series, Lady Blazer senior Jirah Ards averaged 12.0 points against Union this season, going 6 of 14 from the field (.429) 2 of 4 from deep and a team-best 10 of 14 from the line (.714).  She averaged 5.5 rebounds per game with two assists and five steals.  
 
For Union, West has averaged 13.5 points against VSU as has Thompson, while Lucas averaged 12.0 points.  All three players have combined for 26 of 63 from the field against VSU this season 10 of 21 from beyond the arc and 16 of 21 from the line.  No other Lady Bulldog player has averaged more than six points against VSU.  West is 9 of 15 from the field (.600), 6 of 8 from deep and 3 of 3 from the line against VSU. 
 
This season, VSU is 20^th nationally and second to Union in the GSC in scoring defense at 56.7 points per game, while the team is fourth in the league in scoring margin (8.0) and third in the league in field goal percentage at a .428 clip for 47^th nationally.  VSU is second in the league, just behind Union, in turnovers forced per game at an 18.93 clip for 56^th nationally.  Ards is fifth in the league in assist/turnover ratio at a 1.81 clip, while she is third in the league in steals (62) and fourth in steals per game.