From Staff Reports

 

VALDOSTA, GA – An 18-2 run by Valdosta State in the second quarter caused the Lady Hurricanes’ goal for a road victory to go up in flames as the Lady Blazers defeated Georgia Southwestern State University 78-54 on Wednesday, December 12, at Valdosta State.

The Lady Hurricanes took a 9-8 lead in the first quarter on a three-pointer by Lex Chatman with 4:46 left in the quarter. That led to a 9-4 run by GSW as they ended the first quarter with an 18-12 lead.

GSW (3-4) started the second quarter with a layup by Tamia Smith. That was followed by a three-pointer by Madison Johnson before VSU started heating up. A layup by VSU’s Crystal Townsend sparked an 18-2 run that the Lady Hurricanes couldn’t handle. The Lady Blazers held GSW to seven points in the second quarter. By halftime, VSU had a 30-25 lead.

Early in the second half, Mariya Trimble tried to get the Lady Hurricanes going when she scored on a layup to cut VSU’s lead to 30-27. However, GSW went scoreless afterwards.

While the Lady Hurricanes struggled to score, the Lady Blazers went on a 13-point scoring run until GSW head coach Kelly Britsky called a timeout with 5:13 left in the third quarter. The Lady Blazers scored 25 points in the third quarter to push their lead to 16 points going into the final quarter. By the time the fourth quarter began, Valdosta State led GSW 55-39.

Valdosta State (6-3) led by as much as 26 points in the final quarter as they combined for 48 second-half points compared to GSW’s 29.

The Lady Hurricanes only made it to the foul line six times during the game. They hit five free throws from the charity stripe. Valdosta State went 11-for-16 from the foul line and shot 58.3 percent (7-for-12) from beyond the arc. GSW shot 27.8 percent from beyond the arc and shot 22-for-59 (37.3 percent) from the field compared to Valdosta State’s 53.6 percent.

Chatman led GSW in scoring with 11 points. Nine of those points came on the strength of three-pointers. Chatman also had four steals and three assists. Sapp, who came off the bench, grabbed a team-high four rebounds to go with her eight points. Kya Cochran chipped in seven points in the losing cause.

VSU’s Nari Garner came off the bench to hit five three-pointers as she finished with a team-high 18 points.

The Lady Hurricanes will try to get back in the win column when they play the first of their two home conference games before they leave for the Christmas break. They will host Francis Marion University on Monday, December 17. Tip-off is scheduled at 1 p.m.