Bonilla, Farrar lift VSU women over No. 21 Lee

Published 9:37 pm Saturday, December 19, 2020

VALDOSTA –– The Valdosta State women (3-0) rallied from a 12-point fourth quarter deficit to knock off No. 21 Lee (2-1) 80-76 in overtime Saturday.

Senior point guard Kayla Bonilla matched her career-high with 30 points along with six assists and four steals in the win. The 5-foot dynamo shot 10-of-16 from the floor, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range.

“I just wanted to bring energy to the team and just get us going,” Bonilla said of her performance. “That’s all I wanted to do –– didn’t really want to do too much or try to be the only person to change the game, but I also wanted to create more for others and help my teammates.”

The Blazers outscored the Flames 33-20 in the fourth quarter and overtime to remain undefeated on the season.

VSU graduate transfer Kwajelin Farrar posted her second double-double in three games with 20 points and 11 rebounds to go along with a season-high four blocked shots in 34 minutes. The 6-foot-1 center loomed large inside for the Blazers all afternoon and proved pivotal in the overtime period –– scoring six of the Blazers’ 10 points in the extra session.

“When possessions are big, we know we’re going to go to our big guns,” VSU head coach Deandra Schirmer said. “Kayla Bonilla had a big game, Kwajelin had a big game, so down the stretch, we’re going to go to those players that we know can get us a basket.”

With the score tied at 70 heading into overtime, the Blazers went to Farrar with the first possession and she delivered –– wheeling patiently into the paint before hitting a turnaround jumper with 4:48 to go in the period.

After forcing a desperation 3-point attempt by Lee’s Maddie Long with 2 seconds on the shot clock, the Blazers gave up an offensive rebound and put-back to Halle Hughes to tie the game at 72.

The Blazers once again found a soft spot in the Lee defense as newcomer Jirah Ards carved her way inside for a short jumper to put VSU in front 74-72 with 3:04 left in overtime.

Following turnover by the Flames’ Julia Duncan, who stepped out of bounds on a baseline drive, the Blazers extended their lead to four as Bonilla slashed inside and scored to make it 76-72 with 1:20 to play.

Lee’s Haley Schubert sank two free throws to pull her Flames within two before Farrar once again got position in the paint and hit on a turnaround jumper to open up a 78-74 lead with 50 seconds left in the period.

The Flames wouldn’t go away as Schubert worked her way inside for a layup to cut the deficit to 78-76 with 38 seconds left.

Lee kept the ball out of the paint as they walled off the paint to Bonilla, forcing a kick out pass to the left wing for a Shanice Nelson 3-pointer. Nelson missed, but Farrar corralled the offensive rebound and laid it in to seal the game for the Blazers with 7.2 seconds left.

“A lot of the points I get are in the rhythm of the game,” Farrar, who scored seven of her 20 points in the second half and overtime, said. “We talked about that after the game –– knowing that I’m not going to score everything and I don’t need to score everything. I just need to be there for my team and score when they need me to score and that’s what I did.” 

The Blazers outscored the Flames 40-26 in the paint and turned them over 24 times for 18 points in the game.

A 3-pointer by the Flames’ Addison Smith gave Lee a 59-47 lead with 9:52 left in regulation.

The Blazers answered with a triple from Bonilla, which ignited an 11-0 VSU run. During the run, Delaney Bernard drilled a 3, followed by a steal and layup by Bonilla. Alexandria Smith canned a triple of her own to cap the run and pull VSU within a point, 59-58 with 7:27 left in the fourth quarter.

Schubert gave Lee a 61-58 lead with a pair of free throws with 6:47 left in regulation. Shortly thereafter, the Blazers responded at the free throw line as Ards made two to cut the deficit to 61-60 with 5:40 left in the fourth.

Smith’s layup briefly gave the Blazers the lead with 4:51 left –– their first lead since the 1:27 mark in the second quarter. Following a layup by Long, the Blazers regained the lead on Bonilla’s two free throws with 4:23 left in regulation.

Bonilla made two more shots at the line to put the Blazers up 70-67 with 57 seconds to play in the fourth, but the Flames answered five seconds later as Hannah Garrett buried Lee’s 11th triple of the night to tie the game at 70.

A turnover by Bonilla gave Lee a chance to hold for a potential game-winning shot with 29 seconds to play, but Schubert had the ball poked away and stolen by Ards, who advanced to ball to Bonilla with 4 seconds left. Bonilla attacked the rim, but left the layup short as time expired to send the game to overtime.

“We just knew we had to stay poised and lock down on our defenders,” Bonilla said of the comeback. “We knew all their tendencies and we just had to be mindful of that and make sure we don’t let our tiredness dictate how hard that we play.”

The Flames used the 3-point shot to take control of the game in the third quarter.

Using dribble penetration to scramble the VSU defense, Lee consistently found open shots late in possessions. The Flames drilled 4-of-5 triples, all from the left corner, and shot 50 percent in the period. A 3 by Long gave the Flames a 56-47 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Blazers ultimately climbed back into the game with timely 3-point shooting and a switch to a full-court pressure defense. VSU made 4-of-7 triples in the fourth and outscored Lee 23-14 to force overtime.

“The girls executed the press excellently,” Schirmer said. “We talked about how we need to knock (Lee) off. They don’t have the veteran players that they usually have, so we needed to test their freshmen and see what kind of poise they had. … Hats to Marty (Rowe) and his team at Lee, they’re a fantastic team –– there’s a reason they’ve been ranked in the top ten year after year after year. They’re an excellent team. We were trying to take away their interior; that was our game plan. They hit lights out, but we still had to make that adjustment. We were looking to get a little bit less help off the shooters and I thought, down the stretch, we did a good job of closing them out.”

Lee led 36-33 at the half, thanks in large part to its hot shooting. The Flames shot just under 58 percent from the floor and 5-of-13 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.

Farrar was a force for the Blazers in the first half, scoring 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbing six rebounds.

The Blazers shot 43.3 percent in the first half and struggled from long range, missing eight of their nine 3-point attempts.

The Flames finished with five players in double figures, led by Schubert’s 23 points, six assists and five rebounds. Garrett hit 4-of-5 from beyond the arc to finish with 14 points and eight rebounds. Hughes and Long each had 11 points and Camryn Grant chipped in with 10 points before fouling out with 2:18 left in overtime.

Smith finished with nine points for the Blazers. Ards and Bernard scored eight points apiece as the Blazers close 2020 atop the Gulf South Conference East Division.

UP NEXT

Valdosta State: Hosts Auburn Montgomery Jan. 2.

Lee: Visits Montevallo Jan. 2.