Valdosta State is looking to get even at home Saturday night after falling 69-44 to Lee University in their previous meeting on Dec. 19.
“We played well for probably about 30 minutes up there, and then there was about a 10 minute window [where] we made some poor decisions with the basketball, which allowed them to get in transition and get some wide open looks. We had about three or four breakdowns which created a separation and we couldn’t recover,” head coach Kiley Hill said.
LU got to work behind the arc in that contest connecting on 11-27 attempts from beyond the bonus stripe.
The main culprit of that game was Hollie German, who knocked down six of her 10 attempts from behind the arc, and went a total of 11-15 from the field. The 5-9 senior guard finished with 29 points and five rebounds.
“We’re just trying to get better defensive [with regard] how we’re guarding certain pieces of their offensive movement. And also be more aware of where she is at,” Hill said. “We missed [German] on some assignments, and hopefully we can do better at guarding those assignments this time around.”
Aside from her gifted shooting ability, German leads LU with 25.1 per game and assists with 3.2 per game.
LU 6’1 forward Jenna Adams also contributes greatly with 16.2 points per game. Adams also averages 9.4 rebounds per game and 13 blocks this season.
Adams scored 14 against VSU in the previous outing, and had seven rebounds.
Despite LU’s success from deep, VSU did not help themselves much either. Only one of the Lady Blazers finished the game in double figures, Amy Duke with 13 points and three rebounds.
Coach Hill’s focus this week has been working with his team to fill in some of the holes that he sees in his team’s performance.
“It’s just a matter of us having a focused effort on certain pieces both offensively and defensively, and have a [concentrated] effort making those these be more productive,” Hill said.
After inclement weather caused a cancelation of Tuesday’s away game against the University of West Florida, the team has taken advantage this week by filling in the time with practice.
“We’ve had two great workouts. We had a great workout on Tuesday, and another one [Wednesday]. We’re trying to get better as a basketball team,” Hill said.
The action begins at 6 p.m. on Saturday with the men’s tipping off at 8 p.m.
This article was written by Neil Frawley.