VALDOSTA, Ga.-The Christian Brothers University Lady Bucs used a 22-6 run coving more than 13 minutes of the second half as they rallied to claim a 56-50 win at Valdosta State Saturday afternoon in a crucial battle for Gulf South Conference Tournament seeding.
HOW IT HAPPENED:• The teams traded leads throughout the first half, with three ties, nine lead changes and no lead of more than four points in the opening half.
• Valdosta (11-13, 7-12 GSC) opened the second half with a 9-0 run, taking a 34-28 lead on an Aaliyah Cheatham jumper with 8:12 remaining in the third quarter.
• The Lady Bucs (10-13, 8-11) answered with the decisive run, sparked by an
Ashley Schaefer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore HS) layup with 7:24 remaining in the third quarter. By the time
Courtney Banks (Memphis, Tenn./White Station HS) capped the run with a layup with 4:51 remaining, the Lady Bucs led 50-40. Schaefer scored 10 points during the decisive 22-6 run.
• The Blazers came as close as 54-50 in the final seconds on an Aaliyah Cheatham three-pointer, but
Samantha Reeves (Somerville, Tenn./Fayette Academy) sank a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining and CBU forced a miss on the other end to run the clock out.
KEY STATS:• Schaefer scored 18 points with four rebounds. She was 8-of-14 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from three-point range.
• Reeves added 14 points with four rebounds.
• Banks added 13 with three rebounds and three steals.
• CBU shot 48.9 percent (22-of-45) overall, including 45.5 percent (5-of-11) from three-point range.
• The Blazers were 40.8 percent (20-of-49) from the floor, including 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from beyond the arc.
• Valdosta out-rebounded the Lady Bucs 28-23, including a 10-4 edge in offensive boards, but CBU forced 19 Blazer turnovers while committing 17.
THE STANDINGS:With three games remaining, the Lady Bucs sit in seventh place in the GSC standings at 8-11. They are a game ahead of eighth-place Valdosta State (7-12) and two ahead of ninth-place West Georgia (6-13), with CBU owning head-to-head sweeps over both. West Alabama (5-14) sits in 10th place. The Lady Bucs' three games remaining are at home against Alabama Huntsville (10-9), at North Alabama (4-15) and at No. 11 Union (17-2).
WHAT'S NEXT:The Lady Bucs play their final home game Thursday night at 5 p.m. as they host Alabama Huntsville.