CLINTON, Miss. – Cold shooting down the stretch in the final period and in overtime was too much to overcome as Valdosta State fell 73-65 at Mississippi College in the first game of the 2025 portion of the season Thursday evening. 
 
With the loss, VSU fell to 8-4 overall and 3-3 in Gulf South Conference play, while Mississippi College improved to 9-4 overall and 5-2 in GSC play.  VSU will look to get back on track on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET at Delta State.
 
The Choctaws outscored VSU 36-21 in the fourth quarter and overtime combined and 15-7 in the overtime period.   VSU was just 2 of 10 from the field in overtime and 2 of 4 from the line, while MC was just 3 of 4 from the field in the extra session but was 9 of 11 from the line for the extra-session.
 
For the game, VSU shot 28 of 65 from the field for 43.1 percent, while it was 5 of 16 from distance and was just 4 of 9 from the line.  MC shot 24 of 54 from the field for 44.4 percent and was 5 of 16 from deep but was 20 of 27 from the charity stripe in a game with six ties and three lead changes.  VSU was just 12 of 36 from the field in the second half and overtime, after opening the game 16 of 29 for the first half.  VSU didn't attempt a free throw in either the third or fourth quarters.  MC was 15 of 30 from the field in the second half and overtime, while it was just 9 of 24 in the first half. 
 
Lady Blazer sophomore Erin Whalen finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season, while junior Mary McMorris finished with 12 points on 5 of 9 from the field with one triple and one free throw.   The Choctaws, who defeated VSU for the first time in six tries, had four players in double figures led by 24 points from Tytiana Buckley who was 6 of 15 from the field, 2 of 7 from distance and 10 of 12 from the line.  Tiara Abron finished with 18 points on 5 of 10 from the field and was 7 of 8 from the line with one 3-pointer.
 
After MC had cut it to five at 44-39 with 9:43 to play in the fourth, Lady Blazer senior Jillian Schenk hit two big triples for her first points of the night pushed the lead back to double-digits at 50-39 with eight minutes to play.  
 
The Choctaws kept chipping away and cut the deficit to 52-46 with 5:16 to play on buckets from Alexis Rowe and Amelia Bell as VSU hadn't scored since Whalen hit double-digits for a 52-42 lead with 7:14 to go.  McMorris hit a big jumper to push the lead to eight a 54-46 with 4:15 to play and senior Victoria Ikenasio hauled in her fifth rebound of the game with 3:48 to play.  Ikenasio finished with eight rebounds in the game.
 
MC pulled within 54-49 with 2:20 to go on the old fashion three-point play from Buckley for her 15^th point of the game.  Following a turnover by the Lady Blazers, the Choctaws cut the deficit to three, but McMorris answered with a big jumper and 1:18 remaining for a 56-51 advantage.  Buckley pulled MC within three and then another turnover by VSU with 38 seconds to play followed. 
 
Out of a timeout to advance the ball by MC, Buckley kept the hot hand with a triple tying the game at 56 with 19 seconds to play.  Schenk hit a jumper with 16 seconds to play out of a timeout for a 58-56 lead after initially it had been ruled a 3-pointer and was reviewed.  Rowe answered at the other end with nine seconds to go to tie the game forcing overtime.
 
Buckley scored the first bucket of overtime earning the "and one" for a 61-58 lead with 4:46 to play and her 23^rd point of the game.  A triple from McMorris pulled VSU within 64-62 with 3:18 to go.  Two free throws from Tiara Abron pushed the MC lead to 66-62 with 2:19 remaining as MC was 4 of 5 from the line in the overtime, while VSU was 1 of 5 from the field.  Abron hit two free throws and Bell scored a layup with just over minute to go for a 68-62 score and Abron added two more free throws for a 6-0 run and a 70-62 lead.  Ikenasio ended the run with her eighth point (finished with nine points), but VSU had to foul and MC made its tosses for the 73-65 final.
 
Following a tightly contested first quarter, VSU used a 16-1 run to start the second stanza for a 33-19 score with 5:23 remaining in the first half for the largest lead of the game for the Lady Blazers.  MC would cut the deficit to ten as Buckley scored two free throws at the buzzer for a 36-26 VSU lead at the break as Buckley had six points for the half.  MC cut the deficit to 44-37 through three frames after VSU held a 40-28 lead with 7:15 remaining in the third.