No. 2 Lady Blazers Win First Outright GSC Regular Season Title with 82-60 Victory on Senior Day - Valdosta State University Athletics (2024)

VALDOSTA, Ga. –Behind strong second and third quarters, the No. 2 Valdosta State women's basketball team halted the Chargers of Alabama Huntsville for an 82-60 victory Saturday afternoonon Senior Day.

Prior to Saturday's game, the Lady Blazers honored six outstanding seniors playing in their final regular season home game as the 2023-24 Lady Blazer Senior Class included; Aleisha Curry, Emma Martin, Tamiya Francis, Lili Long, India Jordan and Taylor Searcey.VSU would like to wish each of these ladies best of luck in their future endeavors.

VSU also recognized the 1983-84 Lady Blazer women's basketball team from 40 years ago and a number of players from that team were in attendance for the game this afternoon.The 1983-84 team went a school-best 30-3 that season with a 21-game winning streak during the year and reached the national semifinals, falling to Central Missouri 74-70.

In front of a raucous crowd of 1,018 fans, the Lady Blazers outscored UAH 46-26 in the second and third quarters to pull away for the victory after UAH held a 19-16 lead through the first quarter.VSU held UAH to just 37.8 percent shooting, while the Chargers were 6 of 18 from distance, but stayed close in the game going 20 of 25 from the line.The Chargers opened the game 7 of 13 from the field in the first quarter, but made just ten field goals the rest of the game.The Lady Blazers forced 21 turnovers and held a 26-11 lead in points off turnovers and led 41-27 in rebounding, including a 15-6 lead on the offensive glass for a 12-2 advantage in second chance points.

The Lady Blazers shot 48.6 percent for the game on 34 of 70 from the field, while it was 11 of 28 from distance, but went just 3 of 4 from the line – all in the third quarter.Four players were in double figures for the Lady Blazers led by 15 points on 7 of 10 from the field and 1 of 1 from distance from Searcey.She finished with eight rebounds and six assists, along with three steals.Martin was 4 of 10 from distance for 12 points, while Francis added 11 points, five assists and five steals.Junior Victoria Ikenasio had 12 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for her first double-double as a Lady Blazer.UAH was led by 14 points from Bellah Machen on 4 of 9 from the field, 3 of 4 from deep and 3 of 4 from the line along with seven rebounds, while Elyse Hughes finished with ten points.

In a tightly contested first quarter a triple from UAH's Ellen Fleming gave the Chargers a 14-12 lead with 3:48 to play in the first quarter.A layup from Olivia Howard pushed the lead to 16-12 and then a triple from Machen gave UAH its largest lead of the game at 19-12 with 1:54 remaining in the first quarter.A pair of buckets from Ikenasio ended the quarter for the Lady Blazers.

UAH scored four early points in the second quarter for a 23-18 lead with 9:09 left in the half, but the Lady Blazers took over thanks to a 15-2 run capped with a triple from Jordan with 3:17 to play in the half and a 33-25 lead.Fleming nailed another one from distance and Howard hit one of two free throws, but the Lady Blazers used a bucket from Searcey off her own rebound and junior Tyasia drained a triple at the buzzer for a 38-29 lead at the break.

The Chargers kept within striking distance early in the second half and trimmed the deficit to five at 42-37, but Martin continued her hot hand from distance pushing the VSU lead to 52-41 with 4:57 to play in the frame.Just over a minute later, she hit another from distance for a 57-43 lead, while Ikenasio and Searcey did work inside for a 64-45 advantage through the three frames.

In the fourth, Long and Searcey drained triples early and Ikenasio scored two quick buckets later in the frame for her double-double and game-high 24-point lead at 76-52 with 3:44 to play.Junior Jacey Justice hit the final shot of the game for the 82-60 final margin.

VSU finished the regular season with a 26-2 record overall and a 23-1 mark in Gulf South Conference play to win the program's first outright league regular season title when the league has not been split into divisions and seventh conference regular season crown overall as VSU last won the East Division regular season title in 2020-21.UAH finished the season with a 9-18 record overall and an 8-16 mark in GSC play.

The 26 victories also tied fifth-year head coach Deandra Schirmer's most wins in her tenure as the 2021-22 team went 26-6 earning the program's first berth in the NCAA Elite Eight since a national semifinal run in 1983-84.Schirmer is 110-30 and 86-19 in GSC play during her time in Titletown.

VSU ran the nation's longest winning streak to 23 games with the win Saturday as Azusa Pacific (Calif.) closes the regular season with 22-straight wins for second nationally.The 23-straight wins is fourth-most in GSC history and second-most for conference games in league history.Delta State won 33-straight games in 2007-08 to lead the league record book, while DSU also won 29-straight conference games from 2006-09.

VSU earned the top-seed and will host No. 8-seed West Georgia (16-12) on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. at The Complex for "Super Tuesday" in the quarterfinal round of the GSC Championship.Tickets are on sale now in the VSU Athletic Ticket Office or by calling 229-333-SEAT (7328).Reserved tickets are $12 for adults, while adult general admission seats are $10.Youth tickets are $3 and there is no special price for seniors.

Check back with vstateblazers.com for links to live stats, audio/video streaming ticket information and more prior to Tuesday's game.