Southaven, MS- The Valdosta State Lady Blazers saw the longest winning streak in school history, 15, come to an end on Saturday afternoon as VSU fell to the Lady Statesman of Delta State, 72-60, in the semi-final round of the Gulf South Conference tournament.
“We gave a valiant effort,” VSU head coach Kiley Hill said. “We really hurt ourselves in the lighter half of the first half. Few things we talk about is free throws and rebounding and turning the tough situation and we did half of that today.”
VSU jumped out front early on two separate occasions in the opening minutes of play, however trailed by 14 at halftime, thanks to a commanding 17-5 run by DSU, ten of which came from Sarita Cooper, to finish the opening half, however a second half comeback, which was led by Brittany Daniels, brought the DSU lead to just five with 12:18 left to play in the second half.
“We did such a poor job of containment (at the end of the first half),” Hill said. “In our game plan our job is to keep her in front. Over the course of the game we did a better job, but when you play Delta State you cannot have your breakdowns being a long period of time. That stretch just changed the whole complexion of the game and we just had to fight to get back into it.”
Despite bringing the DSU lead to just five with over half of the second half to play, VSU was unable to bring their deficit any closer as the Lady Statesman defensive pressure seemed to be too much for the Lady Blazers as DSU pushed their lead back to double digits with 2:49 to play as Veronica Walker, who averages 20.4 points per game, completed a three point play, that did not please the VSU bench, including head coach Kiley Hill.
“No comment,” Hill said.
DSU’s lead remained in double figures for the remainder of the game, despite late chances by the Lady Blazers.
“I know how good of a basketball team they are, but I mean we have played other good basketball team teams,” VSU guard Amanda Haven said. “Book (Tamika Booker) said earlier in our shoot around that she felt like everybody needs to be here for this game and I really took that to heart, so I just played as hard as I could for as long as I could.”
Along with Brittany Daniels, Haven led VSU with 16 points as she played a career high in minutes with 34in a losing effort, while Veronica Walker led Delta State with 25 points while Sarita Cooper added 15.
“Well I use the dribble drive a lot in this game and I feel like they know what is what I am going to do,” Haven said. “I feel confident enough in my shots that I will be able to pull up next game.”
Senior Michelle Thompson, who has scored 1,065 points in her career, was held scoreless for the first time this season as Thompson saw limited action in the second half.
“Michelle just had an off day,” Hill said. “Michelle has started every game for the past two years and she has had some off games but for the last two months she has been a major difference for us in communication wise. Some days people have off days.”
The loss to Delta State marks the fifth consecutive year VSU has been knocked out of the GSC tournament by the Lady Statesman.
“I am not alone on top of that list,” Hill said. “Just go look at their media guide and you will see a bunch of teams along with Valdosta State who they have knocked out over the years.”
The Lady Blazers will look to Sunday night, when they division II selection show occurs, to see whether they will play in the post season.