Written by

Dionte Daniel, Staff writer 

Valdosta State women’s basketball enters its final two games of the regular season on the road looking to finish strong before the Gulf South Conference Tournament. 

The Lady Blazers 14–12, 11–9 GSC fell on Senior Day against Union in a 78–73 decision, however, they are already locked into the postseason. What’s next is rebounding from this loss and making sure things click again before March hits. 

This past Tuesday, coach Chandler Merkerson talked about how little room there is late this season. 

“Not a ton,” Merkerson said regarding how much room her team has for error. “It’s going to come down to who can execute their system the best on both sides of the ball. This time of year, is who can withstand it, who’s tough enough to find a way to win.” 

Valdosta State withstood Union for most of the game. Erin Whalen had one of her best games of the season, shooting 9-of-16 from the field to finish with 27 points and six rebounds. She was announced as a nominee for GSC Player of the Week on Monday, another honor she’s been consistent enough this season to accomplish. Whalen has been a two-way force all season long for the Lady Blazers. 

“Her motor,” Merkerson began when describing Whalen earlier in the week. “Erin plays extremely hard on both sides of the ball every possession.” 

Freshman guard Chardae Rumph has also been consistent. Against Christian Brothers, Rumph finished with 10 points and a steal on 40 percent from beyond the arc. She followed up that performance with six points versus Union. During the last two games, Rumph has averaged 16 points off the bench while steadily improving her game. Rumph was announced as a nominee for GSC Freshman of the Week. 

Valdosta State has been lights-out at home this season (12–4), but consistency on the road is something this team will look to improve upon (2–8). If they want to finish strong against Shorter and Union, execution will have to improve. 

After the win over Christian Brothers, Merkerson said defense was the difference maker in that game. 

“I just had people that wanted to defend,” Merkerson said. “People that didn’t care about scoring and were bought in to what we needed defensively.” 

Now that postseason basketball is secured for Valdosta State, carrying that identity on defense is what they’ll look to achieve during their final two games. 

The Lady Blazers have the opportunity. Now it’s time for them to prove they can finish.