JACKSON, Tenn. - At the start of the day, the Valdosta State Lady Blazers had not won an NCAA South Regional Tournament game since the program defeated Florida Southern in the second round on March 10, 2012. That all changed on Friday afternoon, as VSU delivered a thrilling 63-60 first round upset of the Sunshine State Conference Champion Mocs.
After falling behind 4-3 in the early minutes of the contest, Madi Mitchell connected from three point range at the 5:33 mark in the first quarter to give VSU a two point advantage. A 12-7 Lady Blazer run ensued, and Valdosta State opened up an 18-11 lead by the end of the opening frame.
In the second, it was more of the same, as the Lady Blazers used a jumper by Mitchell in the first five seconds of the second quarter to spark a 13-6 run that gave Valdosta State a 31-15 advantage at the 5:44 mark for what would be their largest lead of the contest.
The second quarter surge proved to be critical for VSU, as the Mocs began to slowly whittle away at the Lady Blazers' lead in the final minutes of the first half. After trimming the deficit to 11 at intermission, Florida Southern came out swinging in the second half and proceeded to outscore Valdosta State 18-14 in the third period to pull to within a 47-42 deficit.
Valdosta State opened their lead back up to double digits at 54-42 after Kayla Bonilla buried a three ball from the corner in the first minute of the fourth. Mitchell followed with a pair of free throws to put VSU up by 12 with 8:45 to play, but the Mocs fired back with a layup by Anja Fuchs-Robetin on the ensuing possession. Later in the frame, Florida Southern got one of their biggest shots of the night when Camille Giardina hit a three with 2:11 to play. The shot sparked an aggressive 13-3 run in the final two minutes, which pulled FSC to within one before Bonilla secured the victory with a pair of clutch free throws with four seconds left in regulation.
The loss marked just the fifth of the season for the Mocs, who saw their campaign come to an end at 25-5. Meanwhile, the Lady Blazers improved to 22-8 and will advance to face No. 6 Lee, who upset the No. 3 ranked North Alabama Lions earlier in the day.
Valdosta State was led by Mitchell, who racked up 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her 11th double-double of her senior campaign. Taylor Buie added 11, and the Lady Blazers got a huge boost off the bench from Crystal Townsend and Maddy Corazza, who each posted eight points in the game.
The Blazers shot 47.1 percent from the field and connected on 41.7 percent of their three pointers to improve their season three point total to 200, just six shy of last year's record 206. Valdosta State's defense held Fuchs-Robetin, the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year, to just five field goals in the game, four of which came in the second half. Valdosta State also outrebounded the Mocs 33-26, and Florida Southern's bench was held scoreless throughout the entire game.
The tournament continues with a second round matchup against Gulf South Conference foe Lee University, with a tip time slated for 6:00 p.m. EST. Look for links to all of the action at www.vstateblazers.com, and be sure to check out the postgame press conference for Friday's win by clicking on the banner image or the video at the top of the page.
