Southaven, Miss- The VSU Lady Blazers opened the Gulf South Conference tournament with their 15 consecutive win of the season as VSU took down the Lady Bucs of Christian Brothers University, 64-49, on Thursday afternoon at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven Miss.
“I give a major amount of credit to Christian Brothers on changing the tempo and flow of the basketball game,” VSU head coach Kiley Hill said. “We were so anxious, we wanted things so bad. Over the course of the basketball game, we did the things we needed to do. We made defensive stops when we had to, we made free-throws when we had to and we were able to make some major boards when we had to.”
Both teams struggled out of the gate, as it took VSU two minutes and 53 seconds to score the first basket of the game, which was scored by sophomore guard Sczeny Harty.
With the early 2-0 lead, VSU didn’t look back as they built an 11-3 lead in the opening minutes of play. CBU quickly recovered as they brought the VSU lead to four points, 15-11. VSU quickly recovered as the Lady Blazers finished the half on a 15-9 run, to hold a 35-20 halftime lead, despite attempting only four free-throws.
First half free throws play a factor as CBU saw 10 of their 20 first half points come from the charity stripe.
“I would rather have given up 10 shots at the free-throw line than 10 shots from behind the arc, which they have done over the course of the year,” Hill said. “We did not do a very good job in certain areas of rotations.”
Brittany Daniels led VSU with 10 points in the opening half, as Sierra Nixon and Sczeny Hartry added nine each. Leschelle Matthews dished out seven assist in the opening half as VSU shot 41 percent while CBU shot 33 percent.
Sheena DeBose led all first half scorers with 11 points as she connected on 3-6 from the charity stripe and 4-6 from the field.
“She just wore us from the standpoint of post up and isolation,” Hill said. “Again, we tried to make some adjustments. She is just a solid player down low.”
With the start of the second half, CBU was used to trailing by margins of more than 12 points; they had in every game this season. It was no different on Thursday afternoon as the Lady Bucs came charging back in the second half to close the VSU lead to just eight points with 7:59 to play. With a nine point lead with 5:36 to play, however a 6-0 run that lasted just over a minute and a half sprouted the VSU lead back to 15 points, 57-42.
“We had phases where it was Lady Blazers basketball and phases where it was bad basketball,” Hill said. “But the bottom line is, I would much rather have an ugly win than a pretty lose.”
VSU continued to hammer CBU late, as they saw their largest lead of the game, 17 points, come within the final two minutes of play.
Unlike the first half, VSU recorded 16 second half free-throws as they connected on 10, while CBU saw the charity stripe only nine times in the half.
On the afternoon, VSU was led by Brittany Daniels and Sierra Nixon, who combined for 32 points off the bench for the Lady Blazers. Daniels led the team in scoring with 18 points while Nixon added 13. Tamika Booker added 10 points while recording nine rebounds as Leschelle Mathews recorded nine assists.
“That has been the product of this team for the past two months,” Hill said. “When someone is not playing well, someone else steps up and that is a product of a good basketball team.”
Sheena DeBose of CBU led all scorers with 21 points while bringing in five rebounds.
With the win, VSU will play the winner of the West Alabama versus Delta State contest. The second round game will tip-off at 2:45 C.T. on Saturday afternoon.
“The only talk we have is let’s just go out and play the next game and all we are worried about is the next game,” Tamika Booker said. “If they (Delta State) is our next game, then that is what we are worried about. We want anybody who wants us, so lets go.”
With the loss, the Lady Bucs of Christian Brothers have been eliminated from post-season play and finish the year with a 15-12 overall record.