Adam MacDonald
CARROLLTON — The Valdosta Lady Blazers got their first win in The Coliseum on Saturday, crushing archrival West Georgia 54-38 in a game that was never in doubt.
Michelle Thompson hit 4 of 6 3-point attempts to lead the Lady Blazers with 15 points. Sierra Nixon cleaned up on the glass, bringing down 13 rebounds.
VSU hit 8 of 17 3-pointers overall and West Georgia shot a dismal 22.2 percent from the field.
The Lady Blazers (13-7, 5-0 in the GSC) have now beaten every team in the GSC East by at least double digits. They extended their winning streak to eight games after starting the season 4-7.
“It’s a positive, but it can also be a little curse because you can get complacent,” Lady Blazers coach Kiley Hill said. “You’re not able to climb the same ladder twice the same exact way. We may have to put our ladder on a different spot.”
“All we can do is play one game at a time. We’ve put ourselves in a very good situation out of the first round.”
The Lady Blazers made quick work of the Lady Wolves. Thompson hit two quick 3-pointers to start the game and UWG called a timeout. The Lady Wolves responded with two baskets to make it 8-4, but VSU went on an 11-0 run highlighted by a 3 by Leschelle Matthews, the reigning GSC East player of the week. After the run, VSU led 19-4.
The Lady Wolves scored the last four points of the half to cut VSU’s lead to 29-16, but the Lady Blazers came out firing in the second half. Thompson started the half with a 3 and Sczeny Hartry followed with a 3 of her own. Thompson hit another 3 and Brittany Daniels knocked down a pair of free throws to give VSU another 11-0 run. The Lady Blazers led 40-16, their largest lead of the game.
“We felt we had to make some adjustments,” Hill said. “We tried to put the ball inside and we were able to get some easy buckets and perimeter jumpers from Michelle early. We were attacking inside and out. The things we wanted to accomplish we were able to do.”
Not everything went smoothly for the Lady Blazers. In a physical game, Tamika Booker, Nixon and Matthews all left the game with injuries at some point. Booker was helped off the court but returned. Nixon left the game with a bloody nose in the second half and never returned. Matthews had her right arm pinned awkwardly while scrambling for a loose ball and didn’t returned.
Hill said that’s just the nature of the VSU-UWG rivalry and all three players are fine.
The Lady Blazers return to the P.E. Complex on Thursday when they host North Alabama, the No. 2 team in the GSC East. The Lady Blazers beat UNA on the road on Jan. 7, 76-60.
