VALDOSTA, Ga. – The University of West Alabama women’s basketball squad dropped a hard fought 71-59 to No. 13 Valdosta State on Saturday night at the P.E. Complex on the VSU campus.

The Tigers didn’t have an answer for VSU’s Michelle Thompson, who came off the Red and Black bench to score a game-high 25 points to lift the Blazers to the 12-point win over the Red and White.  Thompson was 10-of-12 from the field in her 25 minutes of action off the bench.  VSU (16-3, 2-2 GSC) controlled the boards, registering a 38-23 advantage in that category.

UWA (6-12, 2-2 GSC) trailed 41-26 at the halftime break, but in the second half chipped away at the lead and got it down to nine points on a couple of occasions in the final half.  The Tigers were held in check in the second half, shooting just 44 percent in the second half while the Blazers connected on 52 percent of their shots from the field in the final period.

Senior forward Ashton Washington led all Tiger scorers with 13 points.  The Lexington, Miss.-native also pulled down six rebounds in the contest.  It marks the 15^th time this season that Washington has tallied double figures in the scoring column.  Irimar Hernandez collected 12 points in the affair.

The Red and White return home to face West Florida on Monday, Jan. 28, at Pruitt Hall.  The start time for the first game of the women’s-men’s doubleheader is set for 5:30 p.m.  UWF notched a win over Montevallo on Saturday.