VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State women's basketball team snapped a three-game skid with a commanding 85-68 victory over visiting West Alabama Thursday evening at The Complex in the Gulf South Conference opener for both teams.
 
Lady Blazer sophomore Alina Martin had a VSU career-high 19 points as the team built a 24-point lead cushion at halftime, only to see the Tigers roar back in the third quarter cutting the deficit to eight, before VSU pulled away for the victory.  Martin finished 7 of 9 from the field, 1 of 1 from distance and 4 of 4 from the line coming off the bench.  She led three players in double figures as junior Erin Whalen had 12 points and nine rebounds, while senior Aryana Hicks also chipped in 12 points and eight assists.   
 
VSU shot 36 of 69 from the field, including 11 of 16 from the floor in the fourth quarter to seal the victory after UWA had trimmed the deficit to single digits late in the third quarter.  The Lady Blazers were 4 of 13 from beyond the arc and 9 of 15 from the line.  VSU finished with 45 rebounds, including 17 offensive rebounds.  
 
The Lady Blazers (3-3, 1-0 GSC) won their tenth-straight game against UWA (2-2, 0-1 GSC) and won their 24^th in the last 31 meetings.  VSU held UWA to 23 of 58 from the field for 39.7 percent, while the Tigers were 4 of 12 from deep and were 18 of 25 from the line.  Five players were in double figures for UWA led by 13 points from Callie Cowan and 13 points off the bench from Nailah Mayes.  Other than the five double figure scorers, the rest of the team combined for just seven points.  
 
VSU came out and scored the first six points of the contest before UWA got on the board.  The Tigers would cut the deficit to 7-6 with 6:59 to play in the quarter, but VSU used a corner pocket triple from freshman Kendall Dykstra as the Lady Blazers closed the quarter on a 17-5 run for a 24-11 lead through the first ten minutes.  VSU opened the game 9 of 19 from the field, while UWA was just 4 of 15.  
 
The theme was the same in the second quarter as junior Alina Sapilak hit a triple for a 30-15 lead with 7:56 to play in the half and sophomore Amaya Broadus scored inside on the fifth assist of the half from senior Aryana Hicks for a 35-18 lead.  Following a steal from Hicks, sophomore Raeanne Eccleston scored inside off the theft for a 44-20 lead with 1:32 to play in the half.  The Lady Blazers would end up doubling up the Tigers at the break, 48-24.  
 
For the first half, VSU shot 19 of 37 from the field for 51.4 percent after going 10 of 18 from the floor in the second quarter alone and was 4 of 9 from deep and 6 of 11 from the line.  Martin had a team-high nine points for the half as ten of the 11 players who played scored for balanced scoring from the entire team.  
 
VSU forced ten turnovers by the Tigers as UWA shot just 8 of 28 from the field for 28.6 percent for the half, while they were 2 of 9 from beyond the arc and 6 of 7 from the line.  VSU held a 28-14 lead in rebounding and 12-5 on the offensive end.  VSU had a 17-4 advantage in second chance points and a 19-0 advantage in points off turnovers as the Lady Blazers had just six miscues for the half.  
 
The Tigers came out in the second half scoring ten of the first 14 points, trimming the Lady Blazer lead to 52-34 with 5:56 to play in the frame. UWA began the second half 4 of 6 from the field, while VSU was 2 of 6.  A steal and bucket from the Tigers extended the run to 15-4 with an "and one" from Nailah Mayes for a 52-39 score.  
 
Following a miss by VSU, Kendall Lacoste trimmed the deficit to ten at 52-42 and an 18-4 start to the half with 3:52 to play in the quarter.  Bellah Machen continued the spurt for a 52-44 score, pulling UWA within eight for the first time since the first quarter, but Martin stopped the bleeding for the Lady Blazers with a driving layup with 2:51 to play in the third period and a 54-44 lead. It marked just the third field goal made for VSU in the half (3 of 11), while UWA opened 8 of 13 to that point.
 
Two free throws from Callie Cowan and a bucket from Shay Hunter pulled UWA within 54-48 with 1:55 to play in the quarter and a timeout by VSU as the Tigers extended the run to 24-6 for the frame.  Out of the timeout, junior Erin Whalen scored with an assist from Dykstra for a 56-48 lead.  A steal from Hicks and score from Martin for an "and one" pushed the Lady Blazer lead back to double-digits at 59-48 with 42 seconds left in the quarter.  Following a miss from UWA in the waning seconds of the quarter, Martin earned the hoop-and-harm, once again, pushing the lead to 62-48 through three quarters.
 
Martin scored her team-high 19^th point of the game with a driving layup for a 64-48 score 35 seconds into the fourth quarter.  Machen drained a triple pulling UWA within 68-54 with 6:55 to play as it was Machen's ninth point of the game.  A nice steal from Dykstra and score pushed the Lady Blazer lead to 17 at 71-54 with five minutes to play and a timeout by the Tigers. 
 
Two free throws from Lacoste and a bucket from her pulled UWA within 71-58 out of the timeout, but Broadus answered at the other end for two.  Buckets from Whalen and Hicks pushed the lead to 77-60 with three minutes remaining.  Jumpers from Callie Cowan and Machen pulled UWA within 77-64, but Whalen and Hicks scored for an 81-64 lead with less than two minutes to play.  
 
The Lady Blazers continue at home on Saturday at 2 p.m. versus The University of Alabama at Huntsville at The Complex.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more.