Courtney Mitchell (32) and the Valdosta State Lady Blazers lost 50-48 to North Alabama on Thursday at the Gulf South Conference tournament in Niceville, Fla.

The first day of the Gulf South Conference basketball tournament had resulted in two close games before the Valdosta State and North Alabama women’s teams tipped off. Once they did, it was clear it would be another close game.

North Alabama’s Dana Jackson corralled a loose ball and hit a buzzer-beating shot to give her team a 50-48 win and end VSU’s run in the GSC tournament.

Senior Sczeny Hartry played a stellar game in what could be her final game as a Lady Blazer. She scored 21 points and made five three-pointers, including the tying basket with 20 seconds left.

Brittany Ferguson notched her 10th double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds and added four steals, three blocks and an assist. Maylisa Johnson also turned in a strong performance with 10 points, six rebounds and two assists. Kourtnee Williams was the only other Lady Blazer to score points in the contest, finishing with six.

North Alabama outrebounded the Lady Blazers, 35-31. UNA scored 26 points in the paint and had an 11-4 advantage in second chance points. Jackson led UNA with 17 points, eight rebounds and, of course, the winning basket. Nichelle Fillmore added 11 points. Valdosta State held UNA’s leading scorer, Jasmine Horne, to just six points, but she gave out five assists.

North Alabama struck first blood with a three-pointer, but Hartry answered with a pull up jump shot from the elbow. Williams made a jump shot from the short corner, and then Hartry made her first three-pointer of the game. Both teams played to an early 7-7 tie in the first five minutes.

At the 13:39 mark, UNA’s dangerous Jackson buried a three-pointer for a 12-7 Lion lead. But that would be North Alabama’s last field goal for seven minutes.

Meanwhile, Hartry scored another three-pointer to start a run that led to Ferguson’s first points of the game. She scored three consecutive baskets, followed by a three-point play from Johnson for a 12-1 VSU run. The Lions finally broke their scoring drought on a Nichelle Fillmore lay-up at the 6:51 mark to make it 19-15 in favor of Valdosta State.

Both teams traded baskets from that point to end the half with a 25-22 Lady Blazer lead.

Valdosta State head coach Kiley Hill used a tricky defensive wrinkle to start the game. Ferguson, a forward, started the game guarding Horne, a point guard. Horne earned the regular season’s final GSC Player of the Week award for a performance that netted 23 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals against Alabama-Huntsville. Ferguson and VSU’s team defense held her to just two first half points Thursday.

Hartry and Ferguson combined for 18 of Valdosta State’s 25 first half points. The leading scorer for North Alabama in the opening frame was Jackson with seven points.

Horne scored the first basket of the second half, followed by a lay-up from Julia Myers for North    Alabama’s first lead since the 8:21 mark of the first half. Then Courtney Mitchell found Hartry for another three-pointer, her third of the game, to reclaim a VSU lead. Moments later, Johnson found Hartry for her fourth long ball of the game to extend the Lady Blazer lead to 31-26.

Hartry would score another two points, followed by baskets from Williams and Ferguson to make it a 12-2 run for VSU after UNA’s first four points of the half. The run gave Valdosta State a 37-28 lead, the largest of the game up to that point, with 12:13 left to play.

North Alabama answered with a run of its own. After free throws from Jackson, Fillmore scored in the post to end a six-minute drought between UNA field goals. Next, Jackson found room for an open lay-up. The 6-0 run pulled UNA within three points, 37-34, and forced a timeout from VSU’s Hill.

Out of the timeout, Jackson scored two more UNA points on free throws to make it a one-point game with 8:26 left to play. Fillmore followed it with another UNA free throw, but then Valdosta State snagged momentum.

Johnson went the full length of the court to score on a lay-up and break VSU’s own five-minute scoring drought. Williams stole the ball for VSU next and drew a foul. On the resulting possession, Ferguson drew a foul and made a free throw to tie the game.

From there, North Alabama made two baskets, but Johnson answered with a strong drive down the right side for a lay-up and a foul. That pulled the Lady Blazers within one point, 44-43, with 3:34 left in the game.

After Fillmore scored again, Johnson drew another UNA foul. She made both free throws to pull VSU within one point yet again, 46-45, with just under three minutes left. Fillmore answered with another basket on the other end at the 1:56 mark for another three-point VSU deficit.

Ferguson missed a lay-up on the next VSU possession, but the Lady Blazer defense held. Unfortunately, Valdosta State could not convert on the ensuing possession, forcing a VSU foul. Horne missed the free throw for North Alabama, and the Lady Blazers found themselves with the ball, down three, with just 29.6 seconds left to play.

The Lady Blazers ran the play to perfection, with Hartry burying a three-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game. North Alabama had just 20 seconds to break the tie.

The Valdosta State defense forced a loose ball from North Alabama, but it bounced the wrong way for VSU fans, as Jackson found it and put in a lay-up that rolled across every bit of the rim for the winning basket at the buzzer.

The Lady Blazers (20-7) will now wait to see if they are selected for the NCAA South Regional Tournament. The NCAA will announce the participants at 10 p.m. Sunday.