VALDOSTA, Ga. – Coming off its first outright Gulf South Conference regular season title, the top-seeded Valdosta State women's basketball team will host No. 8-seed West Georgia on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. at The Complex in the quarterfinal round of the Gulf South Conference Championship.  
 
Fans can access links to live stats, video streaming, ticket information and more for the game on the women's basketball webpage on vstateblazers.com.  The game will be broadcast on FloSports with Spencer Van Horn having the call, while it also will be broadcast on the radio on TALK 92.1 WDDQ FM with Mike Chason.  
 
Tickets are on sale now for the "Super Tuesday" game on Mar. 5 in the VSU Athletic Ticket Office or by calling 229-333-SEAT (7328).  Reserved tickets are $12 for adults, while adult general admission seats are $10.  Youth tickets are $3 and there is no special price for seniors.  
 
The winner of Tuesday's game will advance to the GSC Semifinal/Final at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala., on the campus of Samford University.  The winner of the UWG/VSU game will play in the semifinals on Saturday, Mar. 9 at 1 p.m. ET versus the winner of the 4/5 matchup between Auburn Montgomery and West Florida.  Click here for the GSC Women's Basketball Championship Central webpage.
 
VSU enters the championship with a 26-2 record overall and went a school-best 23-1 in Gulf South Conference play.  The Lady Blazers have won 23-straight games dating back to a 59-53 loss at Lee on Nov. 25, 2023, as the 23-game winning streak is the longest in NCAA Division II.  West Georgia enters with a 16-12 record overall and went 12-12 in GSC play this season.  The Lady Blazers won both games against West Georgia this season, winning 61-54 in Carrollton, Ga., on Dec. 7, 2023, and then in Valdosta on Feb. 3, 2024, with a 67-57 victory.  
 
The Lady Blazers are seeking their fourth GSC championship as they last won the title in 2017, along with 1983 and 1984.  VSU is 24-28 all-time in the GSC Championship and are making its 32^nd appearance.  The 24 victories are second-most all-time in league history, while the 32^nd appearance also is second-most all-time.  VSU has reached the semifinals 18 times and the championship game eight times with three titles.  The Lady Blazers lost 81-73 to Lee in the championship in 2018-19, as VSU narrowly missed the NCAA postseason that year.  VSU and UWG have met once in the GSC postseason tournament with UWG winning 99-77 in the semifinals in 1989, held at UWG.  VSU has never met AUM in the conference tournament and is 1-2 against West Florida in the conference tournament.  
 
Heading into "Super Tuesday" VSU sits atop the second NCAA South Region rankings, which were released last Wednesday.  There will be one more region ranking (Wednesday afternoon), prior to the NCAA Division II Women's Selection Show on Sunday, Mar. 9 at 10:30 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.  Following VSU in the region poll is Union, who hosts No. 7-seed Delta State Tuesday evening.  Nova Southeastern was third in the last rankings, followed by Tampa and Embry-Riddle is fifth.  Lee is sixth and will host No. 6-seed Mississippi College Tuesday, while Auburn Montgomery is seventh, followed by Eckerd, Miles and Kentucky State round out the top ten. 
 
VSU closed the regular season with a 91-45 victory over West Alabama on Saturday and an 82-60 victory over Alabama Huntsville on Saturday for Senior Day.  For the week, senior Emma Martin paced the team leading four players averaging double figures with 14.0 points.  She was 10 of 17 from the field (.588) and a blistering 8 of 13 from beyond the arc (.533), while registering four rebounds, four assists and two blocks.  Junior Victoria Ikenasio had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds against Alabama Huntsville, while senior Taylor Searcey (12.0 ppg) and senior Aleisha Curry (11.0 ppg) each had ten made field goals for the week.  VSU shot .526 from the field for the week on 70 of 133, while it was 19 of 48 from distance (.396) and 14 of 21 from the line.  The Lady Blazers averaged 40.5 rebounds per game and 86.5 points per contest, while holding the opposition to just .326 from the field (31 of 95).  The opponents were just 7 of 31 from beyond the arc (.226) and were 36 of 47 from the line (.766).  VSU allowed just 52.5 points per game and forced 19.00 turnovers per contest.  
 
UWG defeated Mississippi College 69-49 last Wednesday and then lost at Delta State 64-42 to end the regular season.  The Wolves are led this season by Zuriyah Davis who leads the team averaging 16.2 points per game.  She is 165 of 441 from the field (.374), while she is 81 of 247 from distance (.328) and 42 of 59 from the line (.712).  Second on the team in scoring is K'Nari Holliday who averages 11.9 points per game and a team-high 7.0 rebounds per contest.  The Wolves average 38.1 rebounds per game and allow 35.0 per game, while they shoot it at a .435 clip and a .299 average from beyond the arc.  UWG is holding teams to a .400 average from the field and a .318 clip from distance.  
 
In the two meetings against UWG this season, junior Kalifa Ford has gone a team-best 15 of 27 from the field (.556), while going 11 of 14 from the line and scoring 21.5 points per game.
Searcey is leading the team against the Wolves averaging 7.5 rebounds per game and is second in scoring at 14.0 points per contest.  VSU is shooting .402 against UWG on 43 of 107 from the field, while it is 7 of 24 from beyond the arc (.292) and 35 of 43 from the line (.814).  VSU is averaging 32.5 rebounds per game and holding the Wolves to 30.5 rebounds per contest, while the Lady Blazers are averaging 64.0 points per game and allowing 55.5.  

The stout Lady Blazer "D" is holding UWG to .398 from the field on 43 of 108, while the Wolves are 10 of 52 from beyond the arc (.192) and 15 of 25 from the line.  VSU has forced UWG into 38 turnovers, while the Lady Blazers have 27 miscues in the two previous meetings.  Anna Gernatt leads the team against VSU averaging 15.0 points in one meeting, while Jada Powell averages 12.0 points per game and a team-high 8.0 rebounds per contest against VSU this season.
 
Nationally speaking, the Lady Blazers are fourth nationally in field goal percentage at a .471 clip, while the team is seventh nationally in scoring defense (53.8) and eighth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage at a .368 clip – all lead the GSC.  VSU is 147^th nationally and tops in the league in rebounding margin at a 7.5 clip, while the team is ninth nationally in scoring margin for second in the league at a 19.0 clip.  The Lady Blazers are second in the GSC in assists per game (15.8 / 27^th), field goal percentage defense (.362 / 36^th), scoring offense (72.8 / 41^st), steals per game (9.3 / 76^th), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.285 / 58^th), turnover margin (4.46 / 24^th) and turnovers forced per game at an 18.89 clip for 58^th nationally. 
 
Individually, Martin is fifth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage at a .453 clip to lead the GSC, while she is averaging 2.21 triples made per game for fifth in the league and her 62 made 3-points also puts her fifth in the conference.  Ford is second in the GSC in field goal percentage at a .493 clip for 64^th nationally, while Curry is tops in the league in free throw percentage at an .848 clip on 89 of 105 from the line.  
 
VSU head coach Deandra Schirmer is 110-30 in her fifth season at the helm of the Lady Blazers and is 10-1 against UWG.  The Lady Blazers have won ten-straight in the series against UWG and are 50-35 all-time against the Wolves, while winning 19 of the last 29 games.  The Lady Blazers are 12-2 against UWG in Valdosta over the last 29 meetings.  UWG head coach Joanna Reitz is in her second season and is 29-28 at UWG.