LIVINGSTON, Ala. -  The University of West Alabama women's basketball team suffered a 64-44 loss to Valdosta State University in a Gulf South Conference game, Saturday afternoon inside Pruitt Hall. 

Valdosta State, ranked 19th in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) rankings and 14th in the Division II College Sports Communications (D2CSC) media poll, improved to 14-2 and 11-1 in the GSC, while West Alabama fell to 4-12 and 3-9. 

"We played a really good team today. We did not execute today like we wanted, but we were still in it down seven at the half. We could not execute on the offensive end," said assistant coach Jeff Lovell.

Late in the first quarter, the Tigers rallied from an early 8-3 deficit to tie the game at 10 with free throws by Kaedre Denson, but the Lady Blazers ended the quarter on a 7-0 run to take the lead right back, 17-10. 

In the second, VSU swelled the lead to 15 thanks to a layup by Taylor Searcey with 4:37 left in the period, but the Tigers' defense kept the bank closed for the rest of the period, finishing the half on a 9-1 run and not allowing the visitors a field goal. 

Still ahead 30-23 going into the quarter, VSU returned the favor, forcing 10 UWA turnovers and not allowing a field goal in the first 8:19 of the quarter on a Denson layup. The Lady Blazers turned on the jets on the offensive end in the period, knocking down 9-of-15 from the floor and outscoring the Tigers 23-6 to see a seven-point halftime lead balloon to 24.

Kendall Lacoste led the Tigers with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe. Kaedre Denson added 13 points off the bench thanks to 4-of-5 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. 

Jordan Parker added 10 points and seven boards. 

Victoria Ikenasio dropped 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Valdosta State. 

With the first half of the GSC schedule in the books, the Tigers will next travel to Montevallo for a midweek matchup on the road. 

"We've made it to the halfway point of the conference. This is a fresh start on the back half. We believe we have the team to do it, we just have to find the pieces and get over the hump," added Lovell.

The contest will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday from the UM Student Activity Center.