VSU AthleticsValdosta State center Kwajelin Farrar (10) scores over a Lee defender during a game March 5 at The Complex.

VALDOSTA – Coming off a 2021 Gulf South Conference East Division title and a berth in the second round of the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Championship, Valdosta State head women’s basketball coach Deandra Schirmer announced the Blazers’ 2021-22 basketball schedule Thursday. The schedule features 27 games, including 15 home games, two home tournaments in November and 20 GSC contests.

The season kicks off with the annual South Regional Crossover as the Lady Blazers will face Palm Beach Atlantic out of the Sunshine State Conference and Benedict College of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Nov. 12-13 at The Complex. Gulf South Conference foe West Florida also will be competing in the crossover.

Following the crossover, VSU continues its five-game homestand to begin the season with Georgia College on Nov. 20, followed by the VSU Thanksgiving Classic, Nov. 26-27. In the Thanksgiving Classic, VSU faces perennial power Bentley (Mass.) along with Columbus State, while Eckerd also is in the classic.  Bentley won the national championship in 2014 and finished the 2019-20 season with a 19-9 record overall and a 14-5 mark in the Northeast 10 Conference. The Falcons opted out for the 2020-21 season. Columbus State played just eight games last season, but enjoyed a 19-9 mark in 2019-20, including a 69-59 loss to the Lady Blazers in the VSU Thanksgiving Classic that season. Eckerd also opted out last season, but went 24-5 in 2019-20, and qualified for the NCAA postseason before it was cancelled due to COVID. Eckerd also competed in the VSU Thanksgiving Classic in 2019-20.

“We are very fortunate to start off the season at home,” Schirmer said. “However, we will be challenged right off the bat with some strong in-region opponents in our opening tournament. Hosting the Thanksgiving Classic again this year will be another important challenge for us before we head into conference play. With a full schedule this season after a limited COVID year last season, we are excited to get out and compete against new opponents and prepare us for the grueling challenges of the GSC regular season.”

The first road test of the season comes at Georgia Southwestern on Nov. 30 to close the first month of the season. Rival West Georgia visits Titletown Dec. 4 to begin GSC play, followed by trips to Shorter and Lee, Dec. 11 and Dec. 13, respectively. The Lady Blazers then host Montevallo (Dec. 18) and Auburn Montgomery (Dec.) prior to the Christmas Holiday.  Following Christmas, VSU travels to Alabama Huntsville (Dec. 31) and opens the 2022 portion of the schedule at West Alabama (Jan. 2). A trip to West Florida follows on Jan. 8, followed by home dates with Delta State (Jan. 13) and Mississippi College (Jan. 15).

Trips to Christian Brothers and Union follow, along with a non-conference return trip to Benedict on Jan. 26. VSU then closes January with a home game against West Florida and opens February with Alabama Huntsville and West Alabama visiting. Game at Auburn Montgomery and Montevallo follow and the Lady Blazers close the home regular season slate with Lee (Feb. 17) and Shorter (Feb. 19). VSU ends the regular season at West Georgia on Feb. 26.

March opens with the GSC Quarterfinal round on campus sites on Mar. 1, followed by the GSC Semifinals/Championship, Mar 5-6., at a site to be determined. The NCAA South Region Championship is scheduled for Mar. 11-14 at a campus site, while the NCAA Division II Elite Eight is scheduled for Mar. 22-25 in Birmingham, Ala.

In the shortened 2020-21 season, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, VSU finished 18-4 and 16-2 in GSC play, good for 13th nationally in the final Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) poll in 2021. The Lady Blazers rattled off seven-straight wins to begin the season and won 14 of the first 16 games. VSU qualified for the NCAA Regional and defeated Lee in the fifth meeting of the season between the two teams, 74-64 in the first round of the tournament and dropped a heartbreaking 63-60 decision to Elite Eight qualifier Lander (S.C.) in the second round. VSU had a 60-56 lead with 33 seconds left versus Lander, but was unable to hang on. Lander won the regional final over host North Georgia and then lost 74-65 in the National Semifinals to Drury (Mo.).

Schirmer begins her third year at the helm of the Lady Blazers as she is 36-15 overall and 26-12 in GSC play in two seasons. She earned GSC Coach of the Year honors in 2020-21, and welcomes back WBCA First Team All-America selection in graduate Kwajelin Farrar, along with starters graduate Delaney Bernard and sophomore Jirah Ards. Farrar was named GSC East Division Player of the Year and First Team All-GSC, while Ards earned GSC Second Team accolades.

Farrar, a native of Grovetown, Ga., joined an elite list of former Lady Blazers who have been named WBCA All-America over the years. Farrar is the seventh Lady Blazer to earn WBCA All-America first team honors and the 14th overall WBCA All-America honoree from VSU. Prior to the formation of the WBCA, Carol Chason (1979) and Susan Taylor (1978-1979) earned First Team Kodak All-America honors for the Lady Blazers. Janice Washington (1984), Candance Fincher (1987), Shannon Williams (1988-1990) and Dawn Wynn (1995) were the other first team honorees prior to Farrar.

This past season, Farrar made an immediate impact for the Lady Blazers as she scored a season-high 23 points and 11 rebounds in her first game in a Lady Blazer uniform in the season-opener against West Georgia. Farrar went on to record 11 double-doubles for the year and had 16 games in double figures, including the final five games of the season. She scored over 20 points three times. Farrar was named to both the GSC All-Tournament Team and the NCAA Division II South Region All-Tournament Team.

She finished the season leading the team in scoring at 14.2 points per game. Farrar was 134 of 226 from the field for a 59.3 average from the floor for ninth nationally and second in the GSC. Her 134 field goals made were good for fourth in the GSC and 35th nationally, while her 11 double-doubles put her tenth nationally and third in the league. Farrar finished her season averaging 4.4 offensive rebounds per game for eighth nationally and second in the league, while she was finished 19th nationally and third in the GSC in total rebounds with 214. Her 9.7 rebounds per game put her 33rd nationally and sixth in the league. She had a team-high 23 blocks for the season in 22 games played and 22 starts.