Valdosta State bounced back with a vengeance against Christian Brothers, cruising to a 62-44 victory to move to 16-5 overall and 6-3 in the Gulf South Conference. Senior guard Sczeny Hartry joined Valdosta State’s 1,000-point club in the win and finished the game with 13 points and 1,006 career points.

Bena Hanyard played a strong game off the bench, leading all scorers with 14 points and tallying five rebounds, four steals and three assists.

For the second game in a row Brittney Nelson led VSU’s effort on the glass, finishing with 12 rebounds and seven points. The ever consistent Brittany Ferguson scored 12 with four assists, five rebounds and a steal.

Valdosta State showed no hangover from the loss at Delta State with a 7-0 run with baskets from three different players to start the game against Christian Brothers.

 The Lady Buccaneers answered with a 7-2 run out of their timeout, but Hartry broke the run with a three-pointer off a Ferguson assist. Ferguson followed with a fast break basket set up by Courtney Mitchell to make it 14-7 in favor of VSU.

 With 4:30 left to play in the half and a 20-12 lead, Hartry cemented her spot in the Valdosta State record book. After scoring two three-pointers, Hartry broke the 1,000-point barrier with a pull up jump shot at the elbow.

She followed that with her third three ball of the game for 11 points in the first half. Hartry is the first Lady Blazer to join Valdosta State’s 1,000-point club since Carley Peterson did it during the 2007-08 season.

 Valdosta State continued to pour it on, taking a 34-17 lead to halftime, but Christian Brothers’ last six points of the half were free throws. The Lady Bucs did not hit a field goal in the last 8:43 of the half.

 The Lady Blazers, meanwhile, finished the half with another buzzer beater reminiscent of Jordan Waugh’s against Delta State Thursday. Hanyard stole the ball with just over two seconds left and scored a running three-pointer to close out the half.

 In the first half, the Lady Blazers dominated the glass with 23 rebounds to just nine for Christian Brothers. Nelson led the first half effort on the boards with nine rebounds, four on the offensive end. She helped VSU to 11 offensive boards to just two for the Lady Bucs.

 Valdosta State’s rebounding led to seven second chance points and eight points on the break. Even though both teams turned the ball over 10 times in the first frame, the Lady Blazers were more opportunistic, scoring 15 points off turnovers to CBU’s four.             

The Lady Blazers did hold Christian Brothers to just 26.3 percent shooting from the field while finishing the first half shooting 40 percent on their end.

Valdosta State shot even better from three-point land, finishing the first half at 45.5 percent with five threes. Seven Lady Blazers scored in the half and all the players on the active roster for the game saw minutes.

Christian Brothers came out of the break with a renewed vigor, hitting all three of their first shots of the half for a 6-0 run.

Ferguson broke it with a jump shot three and a half minutes into the period. At the 15:53 mark, CBU’s Jessica Green hit a long two-pointer as the shot clock expired to pull within single digits, 36-25.

Valdosta State answered with a 14-4 run, however, in which six different Lady Blazers scored points. Valdosta State had claimed a 48-29 lead before Christian Brothers scored again. Valdosta State eventually pushed the Lady Blazer lead to 23 points before the game was over. It proved too much for Christian Brothers to overcome.

Valdosta State will return home for a three-game stand against the Alabama schools in the Gulf South Conference.