Box Score

VALDOSTA, Ga. – The University of West Alabama women’s basketball team fell, 81-56, to the Lady Blazers Saturday afternoon at the Valdosta State P.E. Complex in a Gulf South Conference contest.

The Tigers (17-7 overall, 5-4 Gulf South Conference) had three players score in double figures, led by Wennica Foster’s 15 points. Jamie Walker added i13 and Ashton Washington chipped in with 11 points.

Five Lady Blazers (19-5, 8-1) posted double figures with Carley Peterson leading the way with 13 points. Khaleh Thomas, Janelle Collazo and Nina Risto each supplied 12 points, as Michelle Thompson tallied 10 points.

Valdosta State raced out to an 11-1 run, capped by a jumper from Thomas, but West Alabama survived the first wave of scoring from the Lady Blazers and chipped away at the Valdosta State lead. With 4:47 remaining in the first half the Tigers pulled to within two points on a layup by Foster, 19-17.

The Lady Blazers used a 9-3 run to close out the opening half that pushed the lead to 28-20 at the intermission.

West Alabama answered in the opening minutes of the second half with a 9-5 run that cut the deficit to 32-29 on a jumper and free throw from Kotreece Bender at the Fifteen-minute mark.

A subsequent 13-2 Lady Blazer run over the next four minutes pushed Valdosta State’s lead to 45-31. UWA again chipped away at the deficit, as the Tigers pulled to within five points, 51-46, with 6:42 remaining.

West Alabama shot 41 percent from the floor to Valdosta State’s 54 percent. The Lady Blazers connected on 63 percent (7-of-13) of its shots from behind the arc, while the Tigers were 2-of-11 (18.2 percent).

West Alabama returns to action on Monday February 19, as the Tigers will finish the four-game road trip with a visit to West Florida. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. Tip-off is schedule for 7:30 p.m. and can be heard on WZNJ-FM 106.5 and athletics.uwa.edu.