VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 25 Valdosta State women's basketball team had a slow start and pretty much played catchup the rest of the way, falling 61-55 to Eckerd College Friday evening in the final game of the Gulf South Conference/Sunshine State Conference Regional Crossover at The Complex.
 
The Lady Blazers (1-1) were led by 18 points from senior Kiersten Nelson on 8 of 16 from the field with seven rebounds and 2 of 4 from the line, while sophomore Erin Whalen had 13 points and nine rebounds narrowly missing a double-double for the second-straight night.  VSU had a tough night shooting, going 22 of 63 from the floor and just 2 of 14 from distance, while going 9 of 12 from the line. 
 
Eckerd (1-1) was led by 15 points from Ieva Korzane, while Jaylen Ostenson tallied a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds and Chance Bucher added 12 rebounds as well as the Tritons held a 37-31 lead in rebounding for the contest.  EC didn't shoot much better, going 20 of 52 from the field, but was 6 of 18 from deep and was 15 of 21 from the line.  The game had three ties and six lead changes.
 
The Tritons came out scoring 13 of the first 19 points highlighted by a triple from Ostenson as EC held a 13-6 lead with 5:55 remaining in the first half.  VSU would cut the deficit to five on a jumper from senior Jacey Justice at 16-11, but EC would finish the quarter on a 6-2 run for a 22-13 lead through one frame.   
 
VSU responded in the second quarter, however, with a jumper from Whalen sparking a 5-0 run pulling the Lady Blazers within 24-21 with 4:53 left in the half.   Buckets from Eckerd pushed the lead back to nine, but VSU rallied in the final minute, cutting the deficit back to four at 34-30 with a 5-0 run to end the half. 
 
The Lady Blazers shot 11 of 30 from the field for the half for a 36.7 average, while Eckerd was 13 of 30.  The Tritons went 3 of 9 from distance, while VSU was just 1 of 8.  VSU went 7 of 9 from the line and EC was 5 of 5.
A triple from Justice early in the third pulled VSU within three and then Nelson scored inside for a 36-35 deficit with 7:36 left in the frame.  Eckerd, once again had the answer, pushing the lead to three, but Nelson did the work inside and hit three buckets to tie the game and then gave VSU its first lead of the contest at 41-39 with 4:05 left in the quarter.  Two free throws from Korzane gave EC a 44-43 lead through three frames.
 
An "and one" for Nelson gave VSU a 46-44 lead with 9:49 to play, but a bucket from Ostenson and a triple from Greta Carollo put Eckerd up for good with nine minutes remaining.  Whalen hit a bucket on the ensuing possession for a 49-48 deficit, but a dagger triple from Lisa Michaelsen put EC up four, once again.  Whalen once again cut the deficit to one at 52-51 with 3:21 remaining, but the Lady Blazers were unable to get the stop as Korzane hit another long one for a 55-51 score with 2:13 to play.
 
Down to the final minute, VSU did pull within three with 14 seconds remaining on a bucket from senior Victoria Ikenasio, but the Lady Blazers had to foul and Eckerd made its charity shots to ice the game for a 61-55 final margin.  VSU went 5 of 16 from the field in the final frame and 0 of 4 from distance, while going 2 of 3 from the line. EC was 4 of 12 from the field in the fourth, while draining 3 of 6 critical triples and was 6 of 10 from the line for the quarter. 
 
VSU continues at home on Tuesday at 6 p.m. versus Brewton-Parker.