CLEVELAND, Miss. – The Valdosta State women's basketball team (12-10, 9-7 Gulf South Conference) heads to the Magnolia State this week riding a three-game win streak. The trip opens with a 5:30 p.m. matchup Thursday at Delta State (13-9, 11-6 GSC) and ends Saturday at 3 p.m. against Mississippi College (9-13, 8-9 GSC).
The Lady Blazers enter the week playing some of their best basketball of the season. Junior Erin Whalen continues to pace VSU as the team's leading scorer (13.5 PPG), rebounder (8.7 RPG), and steals leader (2.4 SPG). Senior Aryana Hicks remains the Gulf South Conference assist leader at 5.1 assists per game and ranks second on the team in scoring at 10.9 points per contest. Freshman Rebecca Souverain was named the GSC Freshman of the Week after the most efficient week of her young career last week.
Thursday's matchup renews a long-standing rivalry between Valdosta State and Delta State, a series that dates back to 1977. The Lady Statesmen hold a 41-20 all-time advantage, though VSU has won nine straight in the series and claimed a 70-62 victory earlier this season at the Complex. The Lady Blazers will aim to make it ten in a row on Thursday.
Delta State enters the contest having won back-to-back conference games on the road. Jariyah Williamson leads the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game and assists at 2.2 per contest, while also ranking second in rebounding with 5.4 boards per game despite starting only 16 of 22 contests. Dakiya Toney is second in scoring with 9.3 PPG and averages a team-high 6.6 RPG along with 1.2 blocks. Toney posted a team-best 15 points in the first meeting between the programs this season.
Valdosta State will then travel to Clinton, Miss. on Saturday for a 3 p.m. showdown with Mississippi College. VSU earned an 83-57 win over the Choctaws earlier this season at the Complex in a contest in which no Mississippi College player reached double figures. The storied rivalry between the programs also dates back to 1977, with Valdosta State holding a 27-13 edge in the all-time series and riding an active two-game winning streak.
The Choctaws are coming off a midweek road win at Christian Brothers and are led offensively by Nia Coleman (13.0 PPG) and Valencia McFall (11.5 PPG), with McFall also pulling down a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game. Vivian Sketoe adds 9.6 points per game and leads Mississippi College in both assists (2.5 APG) and steals (1.6 SPG).
Find live stats, written coverage, streaming links, and more on vstateblazers.com and follow @VState_Blazers as well as @VSULadyBlazers to stay up to date with the team as they fight through the home stretch of GSC play.
