VALDOSTA –– The Valdosta State women held Thomas University to 30 percent shooting and cruised to a 61-43 win on Sunday afternoon.

The Blazers shot 41.4 percent from the floor and 7-of-14 from 3-point range for their second straight victory. Nari Garner poured in 10 points, drilling 3-of-4 from long range and dishing four assists in the win.

“Our ability to knock down shots from the perimeter is gonna open up so much for this team –– for our drivers, for our post players, so we’ve really been putting an emphasis on making shots,” Kuhns said. “We’ve worked on it a ton in practice and the same thing for her –– coming to a new program, getting a feel for us, getting her legs under her back from Christmas break. It’s huge for us to have our shooters have the ability to knock down shots.”

Garner believes the team shook off a little rust against the Night Hawks, who committed 20 turnovers and were out-rebounded 46-29.

“That was something we worked on a lot more in practice this week coming back,” Garner said of the 3-point shooting. “We knew we’d be a little rusty so Coach (Kuhns) made sure we got a lot of shots up and it paid off. … I felt like we got our legs under us early so that helped propel us through the rest of the game.”

The Blazers punished the Night Hawks inside, outscoring them 32-14 in the paint. The No. 1 team in the Gulf South Conference in offensive rebounding showed why Sunday as they ripped down 16 offensive boards for 10 second chance points.

Four different Blazers, led by Jazmyn McIntosh with seven, had at least six rebounds in the game. Blazers coach Carley Kuhns praised her team’s defense for setting the tone early on.

“We knew if we defended well, we were going to put ourselves in a good position to win,” Kuhns said. “The entire season, our defense has really fueled our offense and now our offense is starting to catch on a little bit and we’re starting to make some shots so I think our best basketball is ahead of us and we’ve just got to get better every game.”

VSU led 35-25 at halftime, shooting 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and 42 percent in the first 20 minutes.

The Blazers got a lift from Shon Kitchens, who came off the bench for nine points on 4-of-4 shooting in only 6 minutes of playing time. Kitchen led three Blazers in double-figures with 11 points in 12 minutes of action.

“She came from a program she played at four years and I think it’s just taken her some time to get a feel for our program and she’s really started to come on and figure out how to fit into this team,” Kuhns said of Kitchens. “She just plays really hard and a lot of times, the ball rewards kids that play hard.”

Despite a slew of turnovers for both teams early, the Blazers’ sharp shooting allowed them to lead by as many as 15 points in the first half. A free throw by Maddy Corazza put VSU in front 29-14 with 5:42 left in the second quarter. The Night Hawks responded with an 11-6 spurt to close the half.

Sonya Franklin added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go along with three steals in 22 minutes. After tallying just two double-digit scoring games in her first seven games back after missing the entire 2017-18 campaign, the senior from Douglas has averaged 12.2 points over her last five games.

“I feel like the past two games have been her best games back-to-back,” Kuhns said of Franklin. “I think she’s just hitting her groove and we’re gonna need her and rely on her to be that way every night if we’re gonna have success.”

UP NEXT

The VSU women host West Florida on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.