CLINTON, Miss. – Valdosta State junior
Erin Whalen scored with just over one second remaining in regulation on a nice pass from senior
Aryana Hicks to tie the game at 72 as the Lady Blazers then outscored Mississippi College 12-6 in the overtime period for an 84-78 victory on Saturday. VSU improved to 13-11 overall and 10-8 in Gulf South Conference play.
In the overtime period, MC jumped out to an early 75-72 lead, but freshman
Chardae Rumph scored and freshman
Rebecca Souverain hit two free throws giving VSU a 76-75 lead with 2:52 to play. Hicks came up big down the stretch with a big jumper for a 79-78 lead with 1:20 to play and hit two free throws with 18 ticks remaining for an 81-78 lead. Whalen pulled down her 12
th rebound of the game with 12 seconds to go on a miss from Coleman from distance as MC had to foul immediately.
Whalen hit made one of two free throws for an 82-78 lead with eight seconds to play. Coleman missed another from distance and junior
Alina Sapilak pulled down the rebound with four seconds remaining and was immediately fouled. She made both free throws for an 84-78 score. Coleman once again missed a 3-pointer just before the final horn.
The Blazers entered the fourth quarter trailing 55-51 after a very disappointing third quarter where MC held a 15-7 lead after VSU led 44-40 at halftime. A 3-pointer from Ava Craddock pushed the Choctaw lead to seven at 60-53 with 8:33 left in the quarter. The Blazers kept chipping away and Souverain scored in the paint to knot the game at 65 with 3:05 to play.
Once again, MC drained a triple, this time from Keller Bigham for a 68-65 score and then following a pair of missed free throws from VSU, MC drained another from downtown for a 71-65 score. Whalen answered with a triple with 1:26 to play and then scored a layup with 33 seconds to play pulling VSU within 72-70. MC missed a 3-pointer with seven seconds to play and Whalen grabbed the rebound and time out. After moving the ball to midcourt, Hicks found Whalen underneath for the equalizer forcing overtime.
Whalen finished 9 of 18 from the field for 26 points, while she was 4 of 9 from distance and 4 of 6 from the line with 12 rebounds for her 11
th double-double of the season. Hicks finished with 17 points on 7 of 10 from the field and 3 of 4 from the line, while Souverain had 14 points and six rebounds and Sapilak added 12 points, including 6 of 7 from the line for four starters in double figures. As a team, VSU shot 48.3 percent on 29 of 60 from the field, while it was 5 of 17 from deep and 21 of 35 from the line. The game had seven ties and nine lead changes.
Coleman had a team-high 21 points for the Choctaws who fell to 9-15 overall and 8-11 in league play. She was 4 of 12 from the field, while going 1 of 5 from deep and a staggering 12 of 16 from the stripe, while pulling down ten rebounds. Craddock finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds as MC had all five starters in double figures. The Choctaws shot 36.6 percent on 26 of 71 from the field, while they were 9 of 34 from deep and 17 of 26 from the line.
The teams played a very tight first quarter as MC built a 19-14 lead late in frame, before VSU closed the quarter on a 5-2 run with MC leading 21-19 through ten minutes. In the second, VSU used a commanding 17-5 run through the first five minutes of the frame for a 36-26 lead capped on a layup from Hicks with 5:03 remaining in the half. Whalen then stretched the lead to 13 on a triple with just over four minutes left at 39-26 before MC caught fire and closed the half on a 14-5 run for a 44-40 VSU lead at the break.
With the momentum from the way it closed the first half, MC used back-to-back triples from Craddock to begin the third quarter as it regained the lead and lead throughout the third before Whalen trimmed the deficit to four at 55-51 with ten minutes to play.
VSU returns home to host Christian Brothers and Union next week for Senior Weekend and Play4Kay/Pink Out. The Pink Out Game is set for Thursday, Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. versus CBU and Senior Day is Feb. 21 vs. Union.
