Valdosta State's Maylisa Johnson goes up for a layup during the first half of Saturday night's game versus West Florida at the P.E. Complex.

After trailing at halftime for the first time since mid-November, the Valdosta State Lady Blazers used a strong second half performance to defeat Gulf South Conference women’s basketball foe West Florida, 57-53.

Maylisa Johnson recorded a team-high 18 points, 12 of which came in the first half, while Sczeny Hartry added 17 points in the win for Valdosta State. Player of the Year candidate Brittany Ferguson was held scoreless in the opening half, but finished the night with 11 points, despite shooting just 3 of 11 from the field. Ferguson led the Lady Blazers with 12 rebounds.

Valdosta State dominated the glass, outrebounding West Florida 36-19 on the night. VSU racked up 17 offensive rebounds, compared to just three for the Lady Argonauts.

“The difference was our ability to get the offensive boards and knock down shots late,” Valdosta State head coach Kiley Hill said. “The offensive rebounds gave us second and third-chance opportunities to score when we just weren’t scoring.”

West Florida’s Hanna Vette posted a game-high 21 points, while Erica Wright finished the night with 13 points, as the Lady Argonauts shot an impressive 52 percent from the floor.

The Lady Blazers came charging out of the gate to begin the second half, quickly erasing a seven-point deficit. VSU used a 14-5 run to take their first lead of the contest, which came on a Hartry field goal that made the score 36-34. Hartry continued her hot-hand, scoring seven of the 14 points during the opening run to the second half.

“I felt like, in the first 20 minutes, (West Florida) played at a very high level and we played the poorest basketball we could play,” Hill said. “We just kind of made a few adjustments and regrouped at halftime, and were able to have a great spark.”

Valdosta State continued to add to its lead, using back-to-back Ferguson free throws and a technical foul free throw from Brittney Nelson to take a four-point lead, 39-35. Nelson continued to help VSU extend its lead, connecting on a 3-pointer and a jumper to thrust the Lady Blazers in front, 44-35. Johnson then added a free throw that put VSU up by 10 points with 8:31 to play.

West Florida refused to go away, though. The Lady Argonauts put together a 9-2 run to bring VSU’s lead down to just three points, 47-44, with 2:10 to play.

From there, Erica Wright, who scored the final 13 points of the night for West Florida, and Ferguson exchanged baskets and free throws on multiple possessions to bring the score to 53-50 with 17 seconds to play.

After a foul, Johnson added two more free throws for Valdosta State, which made the score 55-50, but Wright drilled a 3-pointer on the other end, keeping UWF in contention. Luckily for VSU, Hartry was able to convert two more free throws that were followed up by a Lady Argos turnover that ended the game.

“Getting nearly every hustle play down the stretch and getting the loose balls became a difference maker,” Hill said. “For us, we executed some stuff down the stretch and we held them scoreless without a field goal for a long time, and that is what we hang our hat on.”

Valdosta State struggled early in the game, committing five turnovers across the first five possessions. The Lady Blazers’ struggles lasted the majority of the opening half. They finished the opening 20 minutes trailing 27-22 after committing 13 turnovers on just 10 of 26 shooting.

The Lady Argonauts jumped out to a 16-4 lead, taking advantage of eight VSU turnovers during that run. The Lady Blazers were just 2 of 10 from the floor to start the game.

Johnson accounted for 10 of the first 12 Lady Blazer points. Johnson put an end to the Lady Argos’ early 7-0 run with a layup, making the score 16-6. Jordan Waugh then connected on a 3-pointer, cutting the deficit to 16-9. From there, the two teams exchanged blows, playing to an even 13-13 draw across the final eight minutes of the first half.

Valdosta State returns to action Thursday night, when it travels to Delta State.