The winner of Saturday's semifinal game will play the winner of No. 3-seed Tampa vs. No. 7-seed Eckerd on Monday at 7 p.m. for the championship of the South Region. The Tampa/Eckerd semifinal will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. The winner of the regional will advance to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight, scheduled for Mar. 25-29 at the Saint Joseph Civic Arena in Saint Joseph, Mo. VSU last qualified for the Elite Eight in 2022 in Birmingham, Ala., where it lost in a 58-55 heartbreaker to eventual national runner-up Western Washington.
VSU enters with a 30-2 record overall and a school-record 27-game winning streak which is the longest current streak in NCAA Division II women's basketball. The 27-game winning streak is the fourth-longest of all divisions of the NCAA in both men's and women's basketball combined, while it is the longest in NCAA Division II and the fourth longest in women's basketball in the NCAA. South Carolina has won 32-straight games, while New York University (D3) has won 30 and Fairfield (D1) has won 28.
The 27-game winning streak is the third-longest winning streak in GSC history as Delta State won 33-straight games in 2007-08 and 28-straight in 1989-90. The Lady Blazers went a school-best 23-1 in Gulf South Conference play for the second-longest winning streak in league history for conference games. DSU won 29-straight league games from 2006-09.
VSU used a game-high 20 points from junior
Kalifa Ford, the D2CCA South Region Player of the Year and Gulf South Conference Player of the Year. She finished 7 of 16 from the field, 4 of 11 from deep and 2 of 2 from the line, while pulling down nine rebounds and added three assists leading four Lady Blazers in double figures. Senior
Taylor Searcey, junior
Victoria Ikenasio and senior
Aleisha Curry each had 11 points.
The Lady Blazers went 24 of 60 from the field for the game (40%), while it was 8 of 30 from deep and 10 of 12 from the line. VSU held a 38-23 lead in rebounding over Miles. The Lady Blazer "D" clamped down on the Golden Bears in the second half holding MC to just 6 of 25 from the field in the final two quarters after Miles opened 10 of 25 from the field in the first half. The Golden Bears stayed close in the game, going 15 of 28 from the free throw line, including 10 of 15 in the third quarter alone.
Miles (22-7), who won its first Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) championship and played in its first NCAA postseason, finished 16 of 50 from the field (32%), while the Golden Bears were 8 of 21 from deep and the 15 of 28 from the line. Iemyiah Harris had a team-high 13 points leading three players in double figures on 4 of 18 from the field 3 of 12 from deep and 2 of 3 from the line, while Tederia Ashley finished 11 points and 13 rebounds. Harris entered the game averaging over 17 points per game.
Entering the regional, VSU was 4-2 against the NCAA South Regional field this year, handing No. 2-seed Union two of its three losses this year, while the Lady Blazers are 2-1 against No. 5-seed Lee and 0-1 against No. 7-seed Eckerd as the two teams battled in Pensacola, Fla., in the first game of the season on Nov. 10, 2023 with the Tritons pulling out a 69-64 victory.
The Lady Blazers are making their 16
th appearance in the NCAA postseason and are 18-15 all-time with a third-place finish in 1984. VSU won the South Region title in 2022, in Jackson, Tenn., defeating Union on its home court to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1984.
VSU head coach
Deandra Schirmer is 114-30 at the helm of the Lady Blazers in her fifth season. Schirmer was named GSC Coach of the Year in 2024 as she has guided the team the 29-2 record overall and went a school-best 23-1 in Gulf South Conference play. Schirmer has led VSU to a national-best and school-record 26-straight victories this season. She also was named GSC East Division Coach of the Year in 2021. Schirmer is 5-3 in her fourth NCAA postseason.
Tampa is 10-14 all-time in the NCAA postseason and also is making its 16
th appearance, while Nova Southeastern is 14-8 and making its ninth appearance. Eckerd (4-6) is making its eighth appearance. Lee led the regional field in consecutive trips making its eighth, while Union has made seven-straight, followed by VSU with the last four. Tampa and Eckerd have qualified for the last three. Teams who qualified for the 2020 NCAA postseason still get credit for qualifying even though the COVID-19 Pandemic canceled the tournament that season.
Nationally speaking, VSU remained No. 2 in the latest D2 College Sports Communicators Top 25. Ashland (Ohio) leads the poll, followed by the Lady Blazers, Gannon, Grand Valley State and Southern Nazarene rounds out the top five. Union is 11
th in the poll, while Nova Southeastern is 14
th and Tampa is 24
th. As for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25, Ashland leads that poll, too, followed by Grand Valley State, Thomas Jefferson, Gannon and VSU is fifth. Union is eighth, while Tampa is 15
th and Nova Southeastern is 25
th. Miles and Eckerd are among others receiving votes.
VSU entered the postseason seventh nationally in field goal percentage at a .463 clip on 817 of 1776 from the field, while the team also Is seventh nationally in scoring defense at just 53.9 points allowed per game for the season. The Lady Blazers have not allowed a team to score 61 or more points in the last 19 games as VSU allowed 60 points in an 82-60 win over Alabama Huntsville in the regular season finale (3/2/24). VSU is eighth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage at a .367 clip to lead the league. VSU is 209 of 569 from distance this season as VSU is fourth in the GSC in 3-pointers per game (6.7). The Lady Blazers lead the GSC in 3-point field goal defense, holding teams to just .281 from beyond the arc on 173 of 616. The Lady Blazers are ninth nationally in scoring margin at an 18.2 clip for second in the GSC.
Individually, senior
Emma Martin is fourth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage at a .450 clip on a team-best 67 of 149 from distance. Her 67 made 3-pointers are good for fourth in the GSC and 49
th nationally, while she is fifth in the GSC in 3-pointers per game at a 2.16 clip. Ford is second in the GSC in field goal percentage at a .482 clip on 158 of 328 from the field. She leads the team averaging 14.3 points per game for fourth in the league. Ford is 83 of 108 from the line for a .798 clip. Curry is second in the GSC in free throw percentage at an .846 clip on 99 of 117 from the line to lead the team. This season Ford was named GSC Player of the Year and first team All-GSC, while Searcey and Curry were named to the second team.
The Lady Blazers lead the all-time series with Nova Southeastern 10-5 dating back to a 69-53 victory in Valdosta on Nov. 30, 2011. NSU has won the last two meetings, but the teams haven't played since NSU won 85-79 on Nov. 25, 2016, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. NSU has won four of six in the series after VSU opened winning eight of nine and seven-straight. NSU won 70-58 in Valdosta on Nov. 29, 2015, as the Lady Blazers are 6-2 against the Sharks in Titletown.
NSU enters following a 71-61 victory over No. 5-seed Lee on Friday evening. NSU used a 21-5 second quarter for a 40-21 lead at the break, only to see the Lady Flames roar back in the third quarter, outscoring NSU 18-9 for the frame trimming the Shark lead to 49-39 through three quarters. NSU was led by 17 points from Nicole Scales on 4 of 5 form the field, 2 of 3 from deep and 7 of 8 from the line. Aubrey Stupp added 15 points and six rebounds, while Kailyn Terrell chipped in 11 points in 16 minutes. The Sharks went 26 of 34 from the line for the game, while Lee was just 13 of 14. NSU shot 46.5 percent on 20 of 43 from the field and 5 of 17 from distance, while holding the Lady Flames to 22 of 55 from the field (40%) and 4 of 14 from deep. The Sharks forced 19 Lee turnovers and held a 16-8 advantage in points off turnovers. Lee won the rebounding battle 31-24 and led 16-3 in second chance points.
The Sharks (24-5) enter 28
th nationall and second in the Sunshine State Conference in field goal percentage at a .440 clip, while the team is 29
th nationally in free throw percentage (.760) and 29
th in free throws made per game (14.93). NSU is 25
th nationally and tops in the league in scoring margin at 11.4, while the team is tops in the league in scoring offense at 70.7 points per game and second in scoring defense holding teams to 59.2 points per game. NSU went 18-2 in SSC play this season and won the regular season title, but lost to No. 8-seed Florida Southern in the first round of the conference tournament, 55-45 on Mar. 5.
Head coach LeAnn Freeland-Curry was named SSC Coach of the Year, while Scales and Morgan Kane earned first team all-leauge honors. Stupp was a third team all-league selection, while India Shepherd was named to the All-SSC Defensive Team and Terrell earned SSC Freshman of the Year honors. Kane earned D2CCA Second Team All-South Region honors this season. She leads the Sharks in points (15.4) and rebounds (8.9) per game. The Iowa State transfer had two SSC Player of the Week honors as well as several 20-point double-doubles. Her best outing came against Eckerd (1/17) where she poured in a season-high 25 points on 7-10 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds. Kane's play helped lead NSU to a program record 20 straight wins and their first Sunshine State Conference Regular Season title since the 2015-16 season.
