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LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The University of West Alabama men's and women's basketball teams return to Gulf South Conference East Division action against Valdosta State on Thursday, Jan. 21. The women's contest will tip off at 5 p.m. CST while the men's duel is set for 7 p.m. at VSU's P.E. Complex.
Both games will be aired on Fox Sports 104.9 FM and will be available at www.uwaathletics.com. VSU will also be offering a free video stream and a link to the video is also available on the web.
UWA looks to snap a five game losing streak and pick up its first victory in Gulf South Conference action against the Lady Blazers. Thursday's tilt marks the 56th meeting between the Red and White and Lady Blazers and a win at VSU would also give the Tigers their first win on the Red and Black's home floor since Jan. 24, 2004. Latashia Greer continues to pace the Tigers in scoring and rebounding with 17.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. The Dadeville, Ala.-junior has scored in double figures seven times this season and along with six contests as the team's leading rebounder. VSU (9-7) enters the outing as the GSC East leader after picking up victories in its first two GSC contests; the last coming in an 86-62 win over West Florida. Michelle Thompson guides the scoring attack for VSU with 11.3 points per game while Sierra Nixon and Tamika Booker rank among the GSC leaders on the glass. Nixon ranks fifth in the conference with 7.3 rebounds per game while Booker is pulling down 6.9 boards per game, which ranks 10th in the GSC.
The Tiger men have been idle since a thrilling 78-76 buzzer-beater win over North Alabama on Jan. 14. With the win over UNA, UWA enters the contest 10-8 overall and 1-1 in GSC East play. The No. 8 Blazers of VSU are coming off an impressive upset of then-ranked No. 1 Augusta State this past Saturday. VSU (16-2) is the GSC East front runner, having won its first two league games. Senior forward Jason Swanson leads the Tigers offensively with a 15.4 scoring average along with averaging 9.7 rebounds per contest. Guards Richard Sirju and Alquan Mendenhall are UWA's outside shooting threats as both rank among GSC leaders in three-point shooting. The Red and White will be looking to snap a six-game losing streak to the Blazers as UWA's last win in the series came during the 2005-06 season. Last season's excursion to VSU resulted in a double overtime setback to the Blazers.
Following Thursday's pair of games, UWA returns home on Saturday, Jan. 23 to face West Georgia. Tip off times have been changed to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
