VALDOSTA — Valdosta State’s Blazers and Lady Blazers will host Lee Saturday afternoon to close out its Hall of Fame weekend.
After the Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony Saturday morning, VSU’s women tip off the doubleheader against Lee’s Flame at 2 p.m. The Blazers’ game will follow.
Saturday is the 27th Annual Hall of Fame for VSU Athletics and the 2024 Class includes; Shelby Altman (Softball 2013-2014), Leo Blay (Men’s Tennis 2015-2017), Michael Doscher (Coach 1996-2020), Skip Fite (Baseball 1976-1977), Mike Leach (Coach 1992-1996), Kenny Moore II (Football 2013-2016), Cedric O’Neal (Football 2012-2015), Herb Reinhard (Athletic Director 1992-2024), Holly Satterfield (Softball 2009-2011) and Dr. Cheri and Hamilton Tillman (Contributor 1995 — Present). Click here to purchase tickets for the 10 a.m., Brunch for Hall of Fame. Each of the 2024 inductees will be introduced at the basketball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
The No. 11/18 Lady Blazers won their 12th straight Thursday, defeating Shorter, 74-45. Three players, Victoria Ikenasio, Aleisha Curry and Lili Long scored in double figures. Ikenasio netted 15, with Curry at 13 and Long with 12.
Lee entered the week with a 10-6 record overall and an 8-4 mark in GSC play. The Lady Flames are coming off a heartbreaking overtime loss at home to Union, 98-95, on Saturday.
The Lady Flames have dropped four of their last five games after opening the season winning nine of 11. Lee held a five-point lead with 89 seconds left in regulation on Saturday against the No. 6-ranked Lady Bulldogs, but Union rallied to tie the game forcing overtime. In the extra five minutes, Union outscored Lee 16-13, leading by as many as eight points, before the Lady Flames trimmed the deficit to two with nine seconds left. Lee missed a potential tying triple at the buzzer.
Lee had five players in double figures in the game led by 19 points from Haylee Johnson and 11 assists. The game saw 73 fouls combined, while Union was 44 of 57 from the line and Lee went 18 of 29 from the stripe. Lee’s Mallory Hampton earned GSC Player of the Week honors, scoring 72 points in three games for an average of 24.0 points per game. She shot 51 percent from the field and scored a career-high 36 points against West Georgia. She also surpassed 1,000 career points in a victory last week over Christian Brothers.
VSU’s men began the homestand in style, defeating Shorter Thursday night, 83-65, behind a double-double from Jay Rucker (16 points, 11 rebounds) and 19 points from LaTrell Tate.
The tip off between the Flames and the Blazers will be at approximately 4 p.m. Helfer is 9-10 against the Flames all-time, including a 6-4 record at home. The Blazers dropped the first matchup of the season in Cleveland, Tenn. on Nov. 25, by a score of 87-73. The offense got off to a slow start, heading into the break down 14 as VSU shot .355 from the field compared to LU’s .486 clip from the floor. For the game, Boser led the Blazers in scoring and rebounding, dropping 21 points and 10 rebound for his only double-double on the season while shooting 7-11 from the floor, 3-5 from three, and 4-5 from the charity stripe.
As a team, the Flames will be entering this matchup with a 9-5 overall record and a 7-5 GSC record pending their matchup at West Florida on Thursday. LU is averaging 81.0 points a night, good for fourth in the conference. They are repping a scoring margin of 10.1, second in the GSC. The Flames have great playmakers, as they average 18.29 assists as a team per contest, which is eighth nationally and tops in the conference.
Individually, Lee is led by playmaking graduate student Beyuan Hendricks, who is putting up 16.4 points a night on .457 from the floor and .364 from three. Hendricks is also ranked nationally in assists, ranking first in the GSC is assists per game at 6.1, which is also ranked seventh in the country.