VALDOSTA, Ga. – A season-high 87 points and an 26-8 fourth quarter sparked the No. 23 Valdosta State women's basketball team to an 87-51 victory over visiting Montevallo Monday afternoon.  With the win, VSU improved to 12-2 overall and 9-1 in Gulf South Conference play, while it won its ninth-straight game.  VSU shot a season-best 59 percent from the field for the game.  
 
Junior Kalifa Ford paced four players in double figures with 23 points on 11 of 16 from the field and 1 of 2 from the line, while junior Victoria Ikenasio went 7 of 11 from the field for 16 points and 2 of 2 from the line and pulled down six rebounds off the bench and senior Aleisha Curry added 16 points on 6 of 6 from the field and 4 of 5 from the line with six rebounds.  Senior Lili Long added 11 points on 5 of 7 from the field and 1 of 3 from distance.  Senior Taylor Searcey had a team-high eight rebounds and eight assists to go along with four points.  
 
The Lady Blazers went 36 of 61 from the field for 59 percent marking the fourth time of shooting 50 percent or better this season, while they were 4 of 13 from distance and 11 of 13 from the line.  VSU held a staggering 36-14 lead in rebounding for the game, while leading 22-7 in points off turnovers forcing 14 Montevallo miscues, while committing a season-low eight turnovers.  VSU held an 11-point lead at intermission and then exploded for a 45-20 second half for the victory.
 
Montevallo, who knocked off West Florida in Pensacola, Fla., on Saturday, was held to 16 of 50 from the field for 32 percent, while the Falcons were 7 of 26 from distance and 12 of 14 from the line.  Marisa Snodgrass finished with a team-high 16 points leading three players in double figures.  UM began the game 7 of 13 from the field and went just 9 of 37 from the field over the final three stanzas, while going 7 for 14 from distance in the first half and 0 of 12 in the second half from beyond the arc.
 
The Lady Blazers raced out to an early 7-0 lead courtesy of a bucket from Ford and two buckets from Long in the first 1:25 of the game.  The Falcons kept close with early triples from Savannah Cook and Cali Smallwood for a 9-8 deficit with 6:38 to play.  Big points inside from the Lady Blazers extended the lead to 17-10 on a layup from Ford with 4:07 left in the opening quarter.  Ikenasio scored inside for her eight point and a 19-12 lead, while Long tallied her ninth point of the frame for a 21-12 lead with 2:35 left in the frame.  Two triples from Lia Edwards and Marisa Snodgrass pulled Montevallo within 21-18, but VSU ended the frame scoring the next four points for a 25-18 lead through one quarter.  
 
Both teams started the frame strong as VSU was 12 of 18 from the field, while UM was 7 of 13.  The Falcons stayed close going 4 of 8 from distance, while VSU was 1 of 3.  VSU held a 9-2 lead in rebounding in the opening frame.  
 
A triple from Smallwood cut the VSU lead to 25-21 with 7:38 left in the half and the first points for either team in the second quarter.  Senior Tamiya Francis called the bank with a triple pushing the lead back to seven at 28-21 with 6:46 to play. Three of four free throws from senior Aleisha Curry pushed the lead to double-digits for VSU at 31-21 with 5:56 to play in the half.  Following a miss by the Falcons courtesy of good defense by VSU, Curry scored inside for her ninth point of the game, while a turnover led to a bucket from Ford and a 35-21 score with 4:14 to play in the half.  
 
Following the fifth turnover on UM, senior Emma Martin buried a triple from the corner pocket off an assist from Ford for a 40-23 lead with 3:20 to play in the half.  Snodgrass buried her second longball of the half for her tenth point and a 40-26 VSU lead with just over a minute left in the half.  Two free throws from UM in the final minute cut the deficit to 12 at 40-28, but Long found Curry inside, once again, pushing the lead back to 14 at 42-28 with 33 seconds remaining.  Snodgrass hit her third triple of the half at the buzzer for a 42-31 VSU lead at the break.  
 
For the half, VSU shot 62.1 percent on 18 of 29 from the field, while it was 3 of 8 from distance and 3 of 4 from the line.  Montevallo was just 3 of 10 from the field in the second quarter for 10 of 23 for the half, but shot 7 of 14 from beyond the arc and 4 of 4 from the line.  VSU owned a 15-5 lead in rebounding and led by as many as 17 points in the first half, while forcing seven turnovers by the Falcons.  VSU held a 9-5 lead in points off turnovers as VSU had just three miscues for the half.  
 
Long led the way for VSU with nine points on 4 of 6 from the field and 1 of 3 from deep, while Ford and Ikenasio each had eight points.  Snodgrass paced Montevallo with 13 points on 5 of 7 from the field and 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.  
 
UM cut the deficit to nine in the first minute of the third quarter, but a 10-1 run by VSU pushed the lead to 18 at 52-34 and a timeout by Montevallo with 6:11 left in the third.  During the run Ford had four, while Martin, Long and Curry each had buckets.  Ford's bucket inside on a nice dish from Francis pushed the lead to 20 at 54-34 with 4:44 left in the third.  VSU opened the third 6 of 9 from the field, while UM was 1 of 8 and the Falcons were 0 of 5 from distance through the first five minutes and change of the second half.  VSU scored 12 of the first 15 points of the second half.
 
A triple in the corner from junior India Jordan pushed the lead back to 20 at 59-39 with 1:12 left in the third quarter for her fifth point of the game and the first field goal for VSU since the 4:34 mark in the frame.  Two free throws from senior Taylor Searcey and free throws from Smallwood ended the third with VSU leading 61-43.  
 
Ikenasio scored in transition from Searcey pushing the lead back to 20 early in the fourth and the VSU "D" forced a jump ball at the other end as Ikenasio hit a jumper from the free throw line for a 65-43 lead with 8:40 to play.  Ikenasio scored inside off an offensive foul on the Falcons for a 69-45 lead with 7:56 to play.  Searcey then pushed lead the 26 at 71-45 with a layup with 7:25 to play.  Curry pulled down a huge rebound and earned the "and one" for a 78-47 lead with 4:36 to play marking the largest lead of the game for the Lady Blazers as VSU opened the fourth scoring 17 of the first 21 points en route to the 87-51 victory as nine different Blazers scored points in the game.  
 
The Lady Blazers return to the road this coming week with games at Alabama Huntsville on Thursday (6:30 p.m. ET) and at West Alabama on Saturday (3 p.m. ET), before returning home to host Shorter on Jan. 18 at 6 p.m. at The Complex and Lee on Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. for Hall of Fame Weekend.  Fans can purchase tickets for Hall of Fame by clicking here.