With 2:06 left in the game Veronica Lee cut the UWF (22-5) lead to four, 73-69. UWA cut the lead to four on four other occasions before Wennica Foster hit a layup with three seconds left to cut the to three, 81-78. The Lady Tigers weren't able to foul right away, and Melissa Nafzger hit one of two free throws to put the Lady Argos back up four and time ran out on UWA.
Despite the loss, UWA had five players in double-figure scoring. Lee had 15 points, Emily Nalls had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Wennica Foster had 13, Brandi Humphrey had 12 and Jamie Walker had 10 points and 7 rebounds.
The Lady Argos had four players in double figures, including Nafzger and Michelle Gibson who both finished with 21 points. Nafzger grabbed a game-high 12 boards. Erin Vierling had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Heather George finished with 10 points.
West Florida advances to the semifinals where they will take on Delta State at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
Henderson St. 59, Valdosta St. 50
The Henderson State Lady Reddies put their No. 1 seed on the line Thursday night against a Valdosta State team looking for a little revenge.
The Lady Reddies (25-3) were able to stave off the Lady Blazers (18-10) thanks to a huge first half 59-50.
Henderson shot 56 percent in the first half and had 11 assists and 6 steals. The Lady Reddies led 38-25 after the first. HSU had four players score in double digits.
Shondra Bush led the Lady Reddies with 12 points. Rayna Hare, Ashley Perry and Angelique Baulding each had 11 for the Lady Reddies. Keisha Blackwell pitched in 10.
Valdosta wouldn't go away, and fought back in the second half, but it wasn't enough.
With just less than 10 minutes to go the Lady Blazers pulled to within nine points, after trailing by as much as 19. Janelle Collazo cut the Lady Reddie lead to just six when she hit a jumper to make the score 51-44.
The Lady Blazers never cut into the lead any deeper and missed a few opportunities down the stretch, which allowed the Lady Reddies to pull back out to the nine-point lead.
Valdosta was led by Traci Newton, who had 16 points and 8 rebounds. Nichole Jernigan had 10 points.
The Lady Reddies advance to the semifinals where they will battle West Georgia at 2:45 p.m. Saturday.
