VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State women's basketball team opens the 2024-25 Gulf South Conference slate on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET at West Alabama and then on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET at Alabama Huntsville.
 
Both games will be streamed on FloCollege and this week there will be NO radio coverage of the games. The Lady Blazers enter with a 5-1 record overall and have won four-straight games, including an 87-60 win at Clayton State on Nov. 26. Gulf South Conference Player of the Week, junior Mary McMorris, dropped a career-high 26 points on 10 of 16 from the field, 4 of 5 from distance and 2 of 2 from the line, while pulling down four rebounds with six assists and two steals in the game.  VSU shot a season-best .542 from the field on 32 of 59, while it tied its season-high with 11 made 3-pointers and pulled down a season-best 53 rebounds in the contest.  
 
McMorris became the second Lady Blazer to earn GSC Weekly honors as senior Kiersten Nelson was tabbed weekly best on Nov. 26, marking back-to-back award recipients for VSU.  This season, McMorris is averaging 10.8 points per game, for third on the team, on 21 of 48 from the field (.438), while she is second on the team in made 3-pointers on 8 of 15 (.533) and is 15 of 19 from the line (.789) for second on the team in made free throws.  McMorris has 17 assists for second on the team and a team-high ten steals in six games with four starts.
 
Nelson leads the team in scoring at 16.8 points per game and is second in rebounding at 7.4 per contest. She is 34 of 63 from the field (.540) and 16 of 23 from the line (.696), while pulling down 37 rebounds with five steals in 24.6 minutes of action per game.  Sophomore Erin Whalen is second in scoring at 13.2 points per game and leads the team averaging 9.8 rebounds per contest.  Whalen is 35 of 76 from the field (.461) with five made triples and has a team-high 15 steals this season in six starts.  Junior Aryana Hicks is fourth in scoring at 10.3 points per game.  She is 26 of 49 from the field (.531) and 10 of 14 from the line, while registering 26 assists with 13 steals in six starts.  
 
As a team, VSU is shooting .450 from the field on 174 of 387 overall.  Since the opening weekend of the season where the Lady Blazers struggled from the field, VSU is shooting 50.4 percent from the field on 126 of 250, while going 28 of 74 from distance and averaging 37.5 rebounds per game to just 25.8 for the opposition.  VSU won its season-opener versus Palm Beach Atlantic 75-58 on Nov. 7, but dropped a 61-55 decision to Eckerd the next day.  For that weekend, VSU shot just .350 from the field on 48 of 137, while it was just 6 of 38 from distance (.158).  
 
Lady Blazer head coach Chandler Merkerson is in her first season at the helm of the program.  She is riding a four-game winning streak.  Following the two games this weekend, VSU returns home for three games before the Christmas holiday beginning Dec. 15 versus West Florida at 4 p.m.  
 
The Lady Blazers moved up to fourth in the D2SIDA South Region Top Ten this week from seventh last week.  Embry-Riddle leads the poll, followed by Lee, Nova Southeastern, VSU and Tampa rounds out the top five.  Union sit sixth, followed by Saint Leo, Eckerd, Alabama-Huntsville and a tie for tenth between West Florida and Allen (S.C.).  Clark Atlanta and Delta State are among others receiving votes.  For the D2SIDA Top 25 and the WBCA Top 25, VSU is among others receiving votes in both.
 
VSU was picked third in the Gulf South Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll as Union was tabbed league favorite, followed by Lee, VSU, West Florida and Auburn Montgomery rounded out the top five.  West Alabama was picked 11^th and Alabama Huntsville was slotted tenth.  In looking at the league standings.  Alabama Huntsville is 4-1 and 1-0 in league play after an 81-38 victory over league-newcomer Trevecca Nazarene on Nov. 27.  Lee is the only unbeaten team in the league at 6-0, while VSU is second in wins at 5-1.  
 
West Alabama enters at 0-4 on the year and also has a new coach this season in Tiffany Morton who came to Livingston, Ala., after spending the 2024 season as an assistant at Wisconsin.  She also has worked at Rice, Georgia State, Mercer, LSU, Wagner and Montevallo.  Through four games, Julia Rodriguez leads the team averaging 10.0 points per game on 17 of 52 from the field (.327).  She has a team-high 16 assists, while Kendall Lacoste is second in scoring at 9.3 points per game.  She is 12 of 46 from the field, while going a team-best 7 of 26 from distance.  Kiona McCallister leads the team averaging 5.3 rebounds per game.  
 
The Tigers are shooting at a .326 clip on 77 of 236 from the field, while they are 19 of 64 from distance (.297) and 42 of 63 from the line (.667).  UWA averages 36.5 rebounds per game and allows 42.5, while the team is averaging 53.75 points per game and surrendering 65.5 per contest.
 
The Lady Blazers have won 21 of the last 28 meetings in the series dating back to Jan. 21, 2010, including seven-straight overall and the last six in Livingston dating back to Feb. 18, 2016, with a 63-55 UWA victory. VSU won 64-44 last season in Livingston and then 91-45 in Valdosta. 
 
UAH is coming off a 114-65 win over University of Tennessee Southern on Nov. 30 and does not play a game Thursday before hosting VSU on Saturday.  The Chargers are led this season by Millie Brown who is averaging 13.4 points per game on 22 of 60 from the field (.367).  She is a team-best 19 of 54 from deep (.352) and has 16 assists for second on the team along with seven steals.  Lili Wilken is second in scoring at 12.8 points per game and leads the team in rebounding at 6.6 per contest.  Wilken is 25 of 59 from the field (.424).  She has a team-high 19 assists and also has seven thefts.  Ivey Maddox is 20 of 38 from the field (.526) and is third in scoring at 10.4 points per game.  Maddox has earned GSC Freshman of the Week honors each of the past two weeks. 
 
As a team, the Chargers are shooting at a .456 clip on 150 of 329 from the floor, while they are 55 of 161 from deep (.342) and 36 of 59 from the line (.610).  UAH is averaging 78.2 points per game and 48.0 rebounds per game, while allowing 58 points per game and 32 rebounds per contest.