Valdosta State Advances to NCAA D2 Elite Eight
JACKSON, Tenn. — Valdosta State made history on Monday, securing its place in 2022 NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Elite Eight, after knocking off top-seeded Union, 66-58.
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With the result, the Lady Blazers (25-5) will appear in the Elite Eight for the first time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams. It also became the first Gulf South Conference representative since Union in 2018 to capture the NCAA South Region title, its first. Valdosta State’s last trip to the national quarterfinals dates back to the 1984 season.
The NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Elite Eight will begin March 21 at The Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala. Ticket information is available on NCAA.com.
Union’s season comes to an end with an impressive 28-2 record overall, highlighted by 25-game win streak.
The Lady Bulldogs shot 22-for-56 from the field and were 7-for-25 from three-point distance and 7-for-12 from the free throw line. The Lady Blazers converted 20-of-45 attempts from the floor, 5-of-13 from behind the arc and 21-of-31 from the charity stripe.
No. 7-seed VSU finished with four players reaching double-digit points. The quartet was led by the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Kwajelin Farrar, who netted a game-high 19 points on 7-for-18 shooting and pulled down eight rebounds. Taylor Searcy followed with 15, while Tamiya Francis had 11 and Nicole Heyn registered 10 to go along with her game-high 16 boards.
Shanique Lucas led the scoring for Union as she finished with 19 points behind 7-of-16 shooting including a 4-for-8 clip from deep. She also registered seven rebounds. Jaelencia Williams and Ashtyn Baker followed with 12 points apiece. Williams finished a rebound shy of a double-double.
The Lady Blazers banked on defense in the first half holding Union to 19 points as it shot 7-for-23 from the floor and was held scoreless for a near four-minute stretch in the second quarter, before taking a 33-19 advantage into the intermission.
Union came out swinging in the third, opening the period with a 5-2 spurt, before piecing together a 10-0 run to slice the deficit to three, 37-34, with 3:36 left. Valdosta State however did not relinquish control as it put together a 8-2 to close the stanza and pushing the score to 45-36.
The Lady Bulldogs continued to battle in the fourth, trimming the margin to six, 50-44, just under the five minute mark. However, free throws played a large role down the stretch as VSU was 16-for-22 from the charity stripe during the last 3:40 of the contest, while Union was 5-of-11 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line.