VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Chandler Merkerson era gets underway Thursday at 7 p.m. at The Complex versus Palm Beach Atlantic in the 2024-25 season-opener for the No. 25-ranked Valdosta State women's basketball team as part of the South Regional Crossover.
 
Fans can access links to live stats and audio/video streaming of the game at vstateblazers.com on the women's basketball schedule page.  The games also will be broadcast on 94.3 FM, WJEM Fox Sports Valdosta and online at www.foxsportsvaldosta.com with Mike Chason having the call.
 
The tournament originally was scheduled to be played at Eckerd College this year, but due to the damage from Hurricane Milton in the St. Petersburg, Fla., area, the tournament was moved to The Complex last week.  West Florida and Eckerd will battle at 5 p.m. on Thursday, followed by VSU and Palm Beach Atlantic.  On Friday, PBA and UWF will tip at 1 p.m., followed by VSU and Eckerd at 5 p.m.  The men's regional also this weekend as there will be four games played at The Complex on Friday and then two men's games on Saturday.  
 
This year, all Lady Blazer basketball home and GSC home and away games will be streamed on FloCollege.  On Oct. 15, 2024, FloSports, the official streaming partner of the Gulf South Conference, launched FloCollege, a new college sports streaming platform designed to elevate underserved NCAA Division II and Division III athletics while serving Division-I fans at scale. FloCollege will feature 12 NCAA conferences with more than 12,000 live games for the 2024-25 season.

GSC fans with active paid subscriptions purchased in the fall, will receive access to FloCollege at no added cost, while new subscribers who sign-up on can expect to pay $19.99 per month or $107.88 per year ($8.99/month). Subscribers who use an .edu email from a member institution will be able to sign up at a discounted subscription price of $9.99 per month or $71.88 for the year ($5.99/month). Fans can subscribe now by visiting FloCollege.com or the GSC/FloSports Landing Page.
 
Merkerson took over the reigns of the program on Apr. 20, 2024, replacing former head coach Deandra Schirmer who took the head coaching position at Chattanooga.  Merkerson is no stranger to VSU or the Gulf South Conference as she was an assistant coach for former Lady Blazer head coach Carley Kuhns from 2017-2019 and helped lead the Lady Blazers to the Sweet Sixteen in 2018, and a GSC runner-up finish in 2019.  She then left with Kuhns following the 2018-19 season and was an assistant at Samford and was the top assistant at North Florida last season.  
 
She inherits a program that tied a school-record for wins in 2023-24 with a 30-3 record and a 23-1 mark in Gulf South Conference play, winning both the GSC regular season and tournament titles.  VSU hosted its first NCAA South Regional, falling in the Round of 32 to Nova Southeastern, snapping a stretch of 27-straight victories.  VSU's 27^th-straight victory, and 30^th overall, came in a 66-55 win over Miles College in the first round of the NCAA South Regional tying the school-record for victories in a season as the 1984 team went 30-2.   This season, the Lady Blazers were picked third in the GSC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Senior Victoria Ikenasio was named to the five-player preseason all-conference team. Ikenasio is coming off a 2023-2024 campaign where she averaged 8.6 points and 5.7 rebounds a game.  Ikenasio went 112 of 231 from the field (.485).  She tallied 27 assists with 12 steals and a team-high 18 blocks.  She had 12 games in double figures and recorded one double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds against Alabama Huntsville (Mar. 2). 
 
In addition to Ikenasio, seniors, India Jordan, Jacey Justice and Courtney Stothard, along with sophomore Erin Whalen also return for the Lady Blazers.  Merkerson has a talented group of newcomers, including seniors Kiersten Nelson and Jillian Schenk, along with junior Aryana Hicks who were named to the GSC Newcomer Watchlist.
 
In the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Preseason Top 25, the Lady Blazers were 25^th in the poll.  Defending National Champion Minnesota State headlines the preseason poll, followed by Texas Women's, Grand Valley State, Tampa and Ashland (Ohio) rounds out the top five.  GSC foe Union is eighth, while Nova Southeastern is 16^th from the South Region and the Lady Blazers are 25^th.  Lee is among others receiving votes from the GSC, along with Miles and Savannah State from the region.  VSU plays at No. 17 Georgia Southwestern on Nov. 21, as GSW is in the Southeast Region. 
 
Click here for the WBCA Preseason Top 25. 
 
Palm Beach Atlantic enters the season after it was picked seventh in the Sunshine State Conference Preseason Poll.  The Sailfish are coming off one of their best seasons in program history as they finished tied for sixth in the SSC standings as they made their first trip to the SSC Tournament. The Sailfish went 15-14 overall and were 9-11 in conference play before falling to Tampa in postseason play. PBA enters year seven under head coach Manisha Redus as PBA is coming off back-to-back double-digit win seasons.
 
The Sailfish return leading scorer in the SSC in Kash Ayuso who averaged 19.7 points per game last year to go along with 4.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists.  Returning from injury in 2024-25 are Darria Whitley and Anabel Ellison in the backcourt, but have three new players up front with seven total newcomers including four transfers and three freshmen.  
 
VSU leads the all-time series with Palm Beach Atlantic 6-2 dating back to 2007.  VSU has won the last two meetings a 72-64 victory in the season-opener in Pensacola, Fla., last season and in Valdosta in 2021-22 with a 72-40 win.  In last season's meeting, Ikenasio had nine points and five rebounds off the bench.  VSU newcomer Jillian Schenk had 11 points for the Sailfish last season in the game as she transferred to VSU from PBA this season.  VSU is 3-0 against PBA in Valdosta with the win in 2021, along with wins in 2011 and 2008. VSU won the first meeting in the series on Dec. 10, 2007 with a 68-47 road victory.  
 
Eckerd enters the 2024-25 season picked fourth in the SSC Preseason Poll.  The Tritons finished 20-12 overall and 11-9 in SSC play as they won the conference tournament and lost to eventual South Region champion Tampa in Valdosta, 69-68 in overtime in the second round of the regional.  The Tritons return four players from last season in Martyna Kowalska, Chance Bucher, Sonja Schuch and Ieva Korzane, while welcoming seven newcomers for head coach Paul Honsinger who begins his 19^th season at the helm of the program.  
 
Eckerd won last season's meeting with VSU 69-64 in the season-opener in Pensacola, Fla. In that game, Ikenasio had 12 points on 5 of 8 from the field with four rebounds in 22 minutes.  VSU leads the series 7-5, but Eckerd has won the last three.  This will be the fifth game in the last six meetings played in Valdosta.  
 
Following the two games, the Lady Blazers host Brewton-Parker on Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. at The Complex.