Valdosta State’s women’s basketball team suffered a tough defeat Thursday night, falling 67-59 to West Alabama in overtime on Senior Night.

The Tigers outscored the Lady Blazers 14-6 in overtime, and denied them a Gulf South Conference victory.

“It’s a very difficult loss, especially this late in the year, on our home floor,” Valdosta State head coach Kiley Hill said. “We just didn’t play well tonight. I give a lot of credit to West Alabama.”

If you can’t put the ball in the basket late in the game, you will have a hard time winning the game. Valdosta State went the final 4:08 of regulation and the first 4:46 of overtime without a field goal. In that drought of nearly nine minutes, West Alabama turned a three-point deficit into a nine-point lead, and put themselves in position to win the game.

The Lady Blazers only attempted one shot in the final 3:20 of regulation, then only made one of eight shots in the overtime period.

“We did a poor job of execution, of running our (plays),” Hill said. “You’ve got to put some points on the board, and we just didn’t do it down the stretch.”

Sczeny Hartry’s jumper with 4:08 left in regulation gave the Lady Blazers a 53-50 lead. The score would remain 53-50 for nearly four minutes.

With 36 seconds left in regulation, West Alabama’s Kenyatta Epps grabbed an offensive rebound on a missed free throw. The Tigers worked the ball around, looking for a good three-point opportunity. Brittany Weathers missed a three-point shot with 18 seconds left, but she grabbed her own rebound, stepped back behind the arc and drained her second three-point attempt, tying the score at 53-53 with 14 seconds left.

After a timeout, the Lady Blazers brought the ball up the court with a chance to win the game. But instead of taking a potential game-winning shot, they turned the ball over, and the game went into overtime.

West Alabama took the lead 11 seconds into overtime on Weathers’ layup. After VSU missed four shots in a span of 63 seconds, two free throws by UWA’s Kottia White gave the Tigers a four-point lead, 57-53. Nikkia Jordan’s layup with 2:32 left gave West Alabama a six-point lead, 59-53.

Brittany Ferguson scored VSU’s first two points of overtime with two free throws with 2:21 remaining. Three free throws by UWA and another one by Ferguson made it 62-56 with 1:03 left.  

VSU’s next two possessions ended with a steal and a missed three-pointer, and West Alabama all but sealed the victory with three more free throws, which gave the Tigers a nine-point lead with 21 seconds to go.

The Lady Blazers and the Tigers went back-and-forth throughout much of regulation. Neither team led by more than five points until overtime.

Valdosta State got its biggest lead after closing out the first half with a 6-1 run, thanks to three-pointers from Sczeny Hartry and Kourtnee Williams. The Lady Blazers headed to the locker room with a 26-21 lead.

But the Tigers came back and tied the score with 11:56 remaining in the second half on Epps’ layup, then built a four-point lead. Valdosta State tied the score, then a pair of layups by Ferguson and a three-pointer by Hartry gave VSU a 51-47 lead with 4:45 left.

But soon after, VSU’s offense dried up, West Alabama rallied to send the game into overtime, then Tigers took control of the game in the extra period.

With the loss, Valdosta State drops to 18-6 on the season and 8-4 in Gulf South Conference play. West Alabama improved to 9-14 overall and 4-8 in the GSC. The Tigers have won three of their last four games. The loss for the Lady Blazers, coupled with a win by Alabama-Huntsville, drops VSU firmly into third place in the GSC.

Ferguson notched her ninth double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Hartry added 14 points. Williams scored nine points on three three-pointers, all in the first half.

Epps led West Alabama with 16 points. Jamie Gunter scored 14 points, Weathers had 13 and Jordan added 11. West Alabama outrebounded Valdosta State 46-35. The Tigers grabbed 18 offensive rebounds in regulation and four more in overtime.

Valdosta State will travel to West Georgia on Saturday.