VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State women's basketball team will hold a 50^th Anniversary celebration on Saturday, Jan. 25, during the West Alabama game at 2 p.m. at The Complex.  
 
In addition to the 50^th anniversary celebration, former Lady Blazer standout Brittany Ferguson Bell will be inducted into the 28^th Class of the VSU Athletic Hall of Fame.  Ferguson Bell becomes the 20^th Lady Blazer women's basketball player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Ferguson Bell earned Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-America honors in 2012, while she averaged 16.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game earning first team all-region honors and first team all-GSC honors that season.  For her career, she played in 57 games with 54 starts, scoring 820 points and registered 484 rebounds in two seasons. 
 
Expected to be in attendance on Saturday are former Lady Blazers Jaynese Perry, Danielle Hernandez Eckhart, Nakita Johnson, Brittany Ferguson Bell, Katie Repko, Kayla Frey, Sonya Franklin, Kendra Green, Abby Rouse, Cindy Cooper Minick, Bridgett Moore, Jocelyn Danley, Emma Martin, Maylisa Johnson, Candice Bryant, Machelle Petrey Watt and Tracy Sprolden.  Following the women's game Saturday, all Lady Blazer basketball alumni and their families will have a meet and greet with the current players and coaches on the mezzanine level of The Complex.  
 
The Lady Blazer women's basketball program began in 1974-75, although intramural women's basketball had been strong at then-VSC dating back to the 1930s.  Lyndal Worth was the first head coach of the team in 1974-75 and guided the team to GAIAW Division I championships in 1977 and 1978, GAIAW Division I runner-up finishes in 1976 and 1979, along with AIAW South Region titles in 1978 and 1979.  Worth finished 142-62 (.696) in seven seasons coaching VSU's first All-America selections in Carol Chason (1979) and Susan Taylor (1978-79).  
 
Charles Cooper took over the Lady Blazer program in 1982 and put his stamp on the program guiding the team to the program's first NCAA Final Four in 1983-84, with a 30-3 record and second-straight Gulf South Conference title.  VSU moved to the Gulf South Conference in 1982 and Cooper coached for 13 seasons, going 217-134 (.618) through the 1993-94 season.  The 30 victories in 1983-84 remained the school-record for wins in a season until 2023-24 when the Lady Blazers went 30-3 under former head coach Deandra Schirmer. 
 
In 1994, Jane Williamson took over the reigns of the program and coached for five seasons, going 93-46 (.699) with two Gulf South Conference East Division titles and won 20-plus games in 1994-95 and 1995-96.  Yvette Sparks coached the 1999-2000 season, before Kiley Hill took over in 2000-01 and coached the Lady Blazers for 16 seasons with a 279-177 (.612).  During Hill's tenure, the team qualified for the NCAA postseason six times with a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2012.
 
Former Lady Blazer standout Carley Kuhns took over the program in 2016 and coached the Lady Blazers for three seasons going 66-29 (.695) with a Sweet Sixteen in 2017 and the program's first Gulf South Conference title since 1984.  Following Kuhns' departure to Samford, Schirmer took over in 2019 and immediately put her stamp on the program.  She went 18-11 her first season and finished her five seasons with a 114-31 (.786) record, marking the best winning percentage of any coach in program history.  Schirmer guided VSU to its fourth Gulf South Conference title in 2024 and the program hosted its first NCAA South Regional in program history that season.  VSU lost to Nova Southeastern in the regional semifinal finishing with a 30-3 record.  The Lady Blazers won a school-record 27-straight games during the season from Dec. 1, 2023, to Mar. 16, 2024, with the loss to NSU.  
 
Schirmer coached both Kwajelin Farrar and Kalifa Ford, who earned All-America honors.  They are part of an elite list of Lady Blazers who have earned Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-America honors.  They are the 14^th and 15^th overall WBCA All-Americans in program history.  Prior to the formation of the WBCA, Chason (1979) and Taylor (1978-1979) earned First Team Kodak All-America honors for the Lady Blazers.  Janice Washington (1983-1984), Candance Fincher (1986-1987), Shannon Williams (1988-1990), Dawn Wynn (1994-1995), along with Farrar (2020-2022) and Ford (2023-2024).  These eight ladies all were first team All-America selections.  
 
Following Schirmer's departure for Chattanooga, the Lady Blazers hired former assistant coach Chandler Merkerson in April of 2024.  Merkerson was an assistant coach for Kuhns at both VSU and Samford, before she spent the 2023-24 season as the top assistant at North Florida.
 
Along with the those mentioned above, Sue Ann Christie, who played for VSU from 1974-78, Diedre Williams (1992-96), Kathy Kennedy (1993-97), Tracy Sprolden (1997-2001), Carley Kuhns (Peterson) (2004-08), Brittany Ferguson (2010-2012) and Madi Mitchell (2015-2018) also earned WBCA All-America honors.  They were either second team, third team or honorable mention during their time in Titletown.
 
As a program, the team is 780-439 (.640) with 21 seasons of winning 20 or more games and two of 30 wins (1984 and 2024).