Russellville, Ark— The Valdosta State University Lady Blazers saw their season came to an end on Sunday afternoon as they fell 67-56 to the Lady Statesman of Delta State University in the semi-final round of the South Region tournament.
“We had opportunities after opportunities,” VSU head coach Kiley Hill said. “We just shot ourselves in the foot. We gave a great effort though. I’m a little frustrated because that game was right there in our possession to take and we didn’t.”
Both teams struggled shooting in the early minutes of the opening half as VSU went nearly five minutes without a field goal while Delta State went nearly seven minutes without a field goal. A Courtney Mitchell two point field goal ended the Valdosta State draught as the Lady Blazers trailed by just two, 11-9, with 9:34 to play in the opening half.
Delta State extended their first half lead to seven points with just over a minute to play as Joncyee Sanders nailed a two point field goal as DSU held a 35-28 halftime lead.
Courtney Mitchell recorded 12 points off the bench for the Lady Blazers in the opening half as she led VSU in scoring in the opening twenty minutes, while Veronica Walker led all scorers with 19 points in the first half for the Lady Statesman as she recorded six rebounds. Bug Cooper added eight points for DSU while dishing out seven assist and snatching down six rebounds as Delta State outrebounded the Lady Blazers 18-9 in the opening half.
VSU closed the gap to as little as one point in the half and even led, as both teams then swapped field goals throughout much of the second half until VSU failed to score a field goal for nearly six minutes as Delta State managed an impressive 7-0 run in that span that gave them a 10 point lead with 90 seconds to play.
An Amanda Haven two point field goal ended the VSU draught, however the Lady Blazers could not close the gap as the second seeded Lady Statesman held on to advance to the South Region championship game.
Free-throws played a factor late in the game as Delta State entered the double bonus with 8:04 to play. The Lady Statesman took advantage as they knocked down seven free-throws down the stretch as they connected on 25-33 throughout the game, while the Lady Blazers connected on 13-20 attempts from the charity stripe.
Veronica Walker finished the game with 23 points and 11 rebounds while Bug Cooper added 18 points for the Lady Statesman. The Lady Statesman out rebounded VSU 35-21 on the afternoon as Tamika Booker and Sierra Nixon led VSU with five rebounds each.
“We did not get our job completely done when we needed to get our job done,” Hill said after the game.
Courtney Mitchell recorded a career high in points with 13 as she and Leschelle Matthews led VSU in points.
“She (Courtney Mitchell) is one of those kids that listens and learns,” Hill said. “She gave everything and she was doing everything we asked.”
With the loss, VSU head coach Kiley Hill is now 0-7 versus Delta State as the Lady Blazers have not beaten the Lady Statesman since the semi-final round of the South Region tournament in 1995. With the win Delta State leads the all-time series 28-4.
“I give a lot of credit to delta state, when they needed to make shots they made them and when we needed to make shots we didn’t.”
As the Lady Blazers season comes to end, the game marks the final game for four seniors (Michelle Thompson, Tamika Booker, Leschelle Matthews and Sierra Nixon).