South regional arrives at VSU

Mar. 15—VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University and The Complex will be the place to be for the next several days as the Division II women's basketball South regional plays here beginning today and goes through Monday.

Action begins at noon with No. 3 seed Tampa taking on fellow Sunshine State Conference school Embry-Riddle (No. 6). At 2:30 p.m., Gulf South's Union (No. 2) faces another Sunshine State conference school in Eckerd (No. 7).

At 5 p.m. host Valdosta State (No. 1) plays Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion, Miles College (No. 8). The day finishes up with No. 4 Nova Southeastern and No. 5 Lee in another Sunshine State-Gulf South matchup.

Saturday games begin at 5 p.m. and see the VSU/Miles winner take on the Nova/Lee victor and the Union/Ecker winner against that of Tampa/Embry-Riddle in the semifinals. The regional final will be Monday night at 7 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.ticketreturn.com/prod2new/team.asp?sponsorid=17349. Tickets each day are $8 for adults and $4 for youth and seniors. The games will be streamed by the NCAA for those unable to make it in person. More information is at NCAA.com.

VSU's games in the regional will also be broadcast on 92.1 WWDQ radio. Mike Chason will have the call.

With Valdosta State students on spring break, the main lot and deck at The Complex are the ideal place to park. Signs will be up to guide patrons.

Seven other Division II women's basketball regionals are taking place across America.

ECKERD COLLEGE TRITONS (St. Petersburg, Florida) 19-11/11-9 SSC. Sunshine State tournament champions, coming 65-57 over Tampa. Lauryn Vieira was tournament MVP with 72 points in three games. She leads Ecker with 16.9 points and an average of 6.5 assists per game. Bella Green, Martyna Kowalska and Hannah Wentworth all average double-digit scoring.

EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY EAGLES (Daytona, Florida) 20-9/13-7 SSC. Won both crossover games versus Gulf South teams early in the season against Montevallo and Auburn Montgomery. Madyson Jean-Louis is their leading scorer at 16.1 points per game, Keturah Balabyekkubo at 10.9.

LEE UNIVERSITY FLAMES (Cleveland, Tennessee) 21-10/17-7 GSC. Gulf South tournament runners-up to Valdosta State after upsetting Union in the semifinals. Only Gulf South team to defeat VSU this season. Mallory Hampton is the only player averaging more than 10 points per game at 19.3.

MILES COLLEGE GOLDEN BEARS (Fairfield, Alabama) 23-6/15-4 SIAC. This was the first women's basketball title for Miles in its history. Title win was 75-72 over Kentucky State. Iemyiah Harris leads scoring at 17.1 points per game. Asha Shareef is at 16.0, with Feliah Greer at 15.1 and Madison Lee at 9.5. Had a 16-5 game winning streak during the season.

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN SHARKS (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) 23-5/18.2 SSC. Regular season Sunshine State champions and upset in the first round of the tournament by Florida Southern. Fell in both Gulf South crossover games early in the season.

Four players in double-digit scoring averages, led by Katie Morgan (15.4). Nicole Scales is at 13.4, Aubrey Stupp at 10.5 and Madison Frederick at 10.1.

TAMPA UNIVERSITY SPARTANS 28-6/13-7 SSC. Second in the regular season standings and second in the tournament.

Three of their losses were in the 2023 portion of the season. Very experienced team with nine players who are seniors or graduate studies players. Mya Giusto and Zoe Piller average 15.2 points game. Audrey Ramsey and Sarah Jones are in double-digits as well.

UNION UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS (Jackson, Tennessee) 29-3/22-2 GSC. All three losses are to Gulf South opponents, two of them to Valdosta State. Upset in Gulf South tournament semifinals.

Six players average at least 9.4 points per game for an extremely balanced offense. Shanique Lucas and Macey Lee are at 12.3, Lauren West at 11.9, Brooke Hampel at 10.7, Emma Kallas at 9.5 and Olivia Lee at 9.4.

VALDOSTA STATE UNIVERSITY BLAZERS 29-2/23-1 GSC. Regular season and tournament champions of the Gulf South, currently riding a school record 26-game winning streak. Gulf South title was their fourth in school history, first since 2017.

Kalifa Ford leads VSU with a 14.3 points per game average and Aleisha Curry is at 10.2, but the Lady Blazers can get big games from everyone on the roster.

Taylor Searcey was the Gulf South tournament MVP and Emma Martin, Victoria Ikenasio, Lili Long and Tamiya Francis all stepping up when needed.