VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 14/19 Valdosta State women's basketball team looks to continue its nine-game winning streak as it travels to Alabama Huntsville and West Alabama for a pair of Gulf South Conference matchups Thursday and Saturday.  
 
The Lady Blazers and the Chargers of Alabama Huntsville are set for a Thursday evening matchup at 6:30 p.m. ET, while VSU and West Alabama tangle on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET.  Fans can access links to live stats and audio/video streaming of the games at vstateblazers.com on the women's basketball schedule page. The games will be streamed by FloSports and fans can purchase a subscription to FloSports by clicking here.  In addition, the game will be broadcast on 94.3 WJEM FM Fox Sports Valdosta with Jack Calhoun having the call and at www.foxsportsvaldosta.com.   
 
Heading into the week, the Lady Blazers moved up to 19^th nationally in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top 25.  Grand Valley State leads the poll, followed by Ashland, Gannon, Catawba and Union is fifth in the newest rankings.  Along with Union and VSU, Tampa checks in at 24^th from the South Region.  Rollins and Kentucky State are among others receiving votes.  In the College Sports Communicators Top 25, VSU is 14^th this week after receiving votes last week.  Grand Valley State leads the CSC Poll as well, while Southern Nazarene is second, followed by Ashland, Gannon and Colorado School of Mines is fifth.  Union sits seventh, while VSU is 14^th and Nova Southeastern is 24^th.  Tampa is among others receiving votes.  In the CSC South Region Top Ten, Union leads the way, while VSU jumped from fifth to second this week and Nova Southeastern moved from not ranked to third.  Tampa fell from the top spot to fourth and Rollins moved from receiving votes to fifth.  Lee and Montevallo are tied for eighth, while West Georgia is receiving votes. 
 
The Lady Blazers are coming off three victories to begin the 2024 portion of the schedule, defeating West Florida 75-67 on Jan. 2, followed by wins over Auburn Montgomery (Jan. 6, 65-43) and posted a season-high 87 points in an 87-51 thrashing of Montevallo on Monday.  VSU has not lost since a disappointing 59-53 setback on the road at Lee on Nov. 25 in the GSC opener.  VSU head coach Deandra Schirmer is 96-30 in her fifth season, while she is 72-19 in GSC play.  
 
Schirmer's squad has been strong on both sides of the ball thus far this season as the team is fourth nationally in field goal percentage at a 48.2 clip on 367 of 762 from the field.  The Lady Blazers are 15^thnationally and tops in the GSC in 3-point field goal percentage at a 36.6 clip on 87 of 238 from distance.  The Lady Blazers are 21^st nationally in rebounding margin at a 7.7 clip for second in the GSC.  Defensively, VSU is holding teams to just 57.9 points per game for 37^th nationally and tops in the GSC.  The Lady Blazers are 30^th nationally and second in the GSC in scoring margin, outscoring teams by an average of 14.3 points per game.  Offensively, the team is averaging 72.2 points per game for third in the league and 63^rd nationally.  
 
Individually, junior Kalifa Ford leads the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game for fourth in the league.  Ford is 33^rd nationally and second in the conference in field goal percentage at a 54.5 clip on 72 of 132 from the field.  Ford's 72 made field goals are good for fourth in the league, while she is sixth in the conference in free throw percentage at 83 percent on 39 of 47 from the stripe.  Ford leads the team with 21 steals.  Senior Emma Martin is 18^th nationally and tops in the GSC in 3-point field goal percentage at a 44.3 clip on 31 of 70.  Her 31 3-pointers made are good for 45^th nationally and sixth in the league, while she averages 2.21 triples per game for sixth in the league.  Senior Taylor Searcey has 84 rebounds for the season to lead the team at 6.5 per game.  Searcey leads the team with 49 assists on the year and second in steals with 20.  Senior Aleisha Curry has been outstanding in the post and is second in scoring at 10.1 points per game.  She is 46 of 69 from the field (66.7%) while she is 49 of 59 from the line for an 83.1 clip.  Junior Victoria Ikenasio has come on as of late with back-to-back double-digit performances including tying her season-high with 16 points on 7 of 11 from the field with two free throws against Montevallo on Monday.  She narrowly missed a double-double with 12 rebounds and nine points in the game against West Florida on Jan. 2.
 
In looking at the GSC standings, Union and VSU each are tied at 9-1 in the league, while Union is 15-1 overall with its lone loss being to VSU and the Lady Blazers are 12-2 overall.  Lee is third at 7-3 in league play, while the Lady Flames are 9-5 overall.  Montevallo is a half game back at 7-4 in league play and 9-5 overall.  West Georgia sits fifth at 6-4 in league play and 10-4 overall.  VSU's nine-game winning streak is tied for eighth-longest in NCAA Division II, while West Georgia has won six-straight and Union has won five-straight since the VSU loss.
 
Alabama Huntsville enters at 5-5 in league play and 6-7 overall after a 97-47 setback at Union on Jan. 8.  Prior to that, the Chargers had won three of four with the other loss at 76-73 decision at home to West Georgia on Dec. 30.  Head coach Andrea Lemmond is 106-142 in ten seasons of coaching the Chargers. UAH is 53^rd nationally in free throw percentage at a 75.0 clip on 156 of 208 from the stripe.  The Chargers are third in the league in scoring defense, allowing just 63.8 points per game and are third in 3-point field goal defense, holding teams to a 27.5 clip on 74 of 269 from distance.  UAH is fourth in the league in field goal percentage at a 43.8 clip on 292 of 667 from the field.  Individually Jesse Jennings lead the GSC in free throw percentage at an 87.1 clip on 54 of 62 from the line.  She leads the team in scoring at 11.8 points per game and is 46 of 87 from the field (52.9%).  Bella White leads the team averaging 6.9 rebounds per game, while Bellah Machen is 20 of 64 from beyond the arc to lead the team. 
 
VSU leads the all-time series with UAH 42-15 and has won the last four in the series and 15 of 19 dating back to Feb. 9, 2012.  VSU is 17-11 all-time in Huntsville, Ala., where it has won four-straight.  Schirmer is 4-1 against UAH during her time at VSU, while Lemmond is 3-11 against the Lady Blazers.  VSU won both meetings last season with a 75-57 victory in Valdosta on Jan. 5, 2023, and won 72-62 in Huntsville, Ala., on Feb. 25, 2023.  
 
West Alabama enters the week with a 4-10 record overall and a 3-7 mark in league play.  UWA won 61-52 at Christian Brothers on Jan. 8, after dropping road decisions at Union (94-50) and West Georgia (59-45) to begin 2024.  Head coach Rusty Cram is in his 28^th overall season coaching with a 372-412 record, while he is 105-149 in ten seasons at UWA.  He also had stops at Belhaven and Georgia Southern.  
 
This season, UWA's Kendall Lacoste is third in the GSC in 3-point field goal percentage at a 37.6 clip on 32 of 85 from distance.  She leads the team in scoring at 10.4 points per game on 45 of 122 from the field (36.9%).  She is 23 of 28 from the line.  Shayla Golden leads the team averaging 6.4 rebounds per game, while Maryanne Logsdon leads the team with 55 assists for third in the league and 51^st nationally. 
 
VSU has gone 19-7 in the last 26 meetings in the series and has gone 14-4 over the last 18 meetings, including winning the last five.  In the last 26 meetings, VSU is 9-3 in Livingston, Ala., including a 66-63 victory last season and has won five-straight there.  
 
Following the two games on the road, VSU returns home to host Shorter on Jan. 18 at 6 p.m. at The Complex and then against Lee on Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. for Hall of Fame Weekend.  Click here to purchase tickets for Hall of Fame.