MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Montevallo women's basketball begins the final stretch of the regular season with a two-game homestand against No. 8 Valdosta State and West Florida in the hopes of clinching a spot in the Gulf South Conference tournament.
 
With just three games left in the season, Montevallo sits in a tie for fifth in the GSC with an 11-10 conference record. The Falcons are part of a five-team logjam with Delta State holding an 11-10 record while West Georgia and West Florida each hold a 10-10 mark. Mississippi College sits one spot out of the conference tournament race with a 10-11 record in GSC play.
 
So Far This Season…
The Falcons began the conference season with a 2-1 record in the non-conference schedule before taking a pair of road wins over Alabama Huntsville and West Alabama. Montevallo returned home for a 1-1 stretch with a win over Shorter and a loss to Lee in early December. The Falcons grabbed another pair of road wins in Mississippi after topping Mississippi College and Delta State before dropping back-to-back home games against West Georgia and No. 8 Union. Montevallo opened 2024 with a 59-43 win over Christian Brothers at home followed by a win over West Florida. 70-67, on the road. The Falcons fell in consecutive road contests at No. 23 Valdosta State and Auburn Montgomery. Montevallo took a 74-59 win over West Alabama in Montevallo, Ala. followed by a 66-63 win over West Georgia on the road. Montevallo then went on a four-game skid with losses to Alabama Huntsville, Lee, Delta State, and Mississippi College. Montevallo snapped its losing streak with a 72-67 win over Shorter on the road before taking down Christian Brothers, 72-54, in the next outing. Most recently, the Falcons fell to No. 7 Union, 73-50, on Saturday, Feb. 17.
 
Through 24 games, the Falcons average 65.7 points per game while allowing opponents to score 65.5 points per contest. Montevallo ranks second in the GSC with 200 made threes on 605 attempts for a fourth-best mark of 33.1 percent from beyond the arc. The Falcons' 75.3 percent mark from the free-throw line ranks second among the league's leaders.
 
Montevallo's offense is led by freshman Cali Smallwood who averages 12.3 points per game which ranks ninth among the GSC's leaders. The Freshman is followed closely by Marisa Snodgrass who scores 11.0 points per contest. Smallwood also ranks eighth in the GSC with a team-leading 6.3 rebounds per game. Snodgrass and Smallwood are both top-five in the GSC with a 39.7 percent (second) and a 35.5 percent (fourth) mark from three-point range, respectively.
 
Scouting Valdosta State: WATCH | LIVE STATS
No. 7 Valdosta State enters Thursday's contest with a 22-2 overall record and a 19-1 mark in GSC play. The Lady Blazers' season started with a loss to No. 9 Eckerd in the season opener before VSU won three-straight games to close the non-conference schedule. The Lady Blazers fell to Lee in the GSC opener on Nov. 25 and have yet to lose since. VSU closed November with an 81-52 win over Shorter before returning home for a pair of wins over Delta State and Mississippi College. VSU went out on the road for a three-game stretch that saw the Lady Blazers take wins over West Georgia, Christian Brothers and No. 4 Union. Valdosta State then went 3-0 in a home stretch against West Florida, Auburn Montgomery and Montevallo in early January. The Lady Blazers went back out on the road for a pair of wins over West Alabama and Alabama Huntsville before returning home for victories over Shorter and Lee. In a trip to Mississippi, VSU took a pair of wins over MC and DSU before retuning to Georgia for three wins over West Georgia, CBU and No. 3 Union. Most recently, the Lady Blazers took a 56-49 win over West Florida on Feb. 17.
 
Valdosta State is the second-highest scoring team in the GSC with an average of 71.5 points per game while holding its opponents to a league-low 54.2 points per game for the second-best scoring margin of 17.3. The Lady Blazers are efficient shooting the ball with a 46.6-percent field goal mark while shooting 36.9 percent from long range.
 
VSU is led in the scoring column by Kalifa Ford who averages 15.5 points per game on a 50.6 percent shooting clip while Victoria Ikenasio leads the team with an average of 5.6 rebounds per game.
 
Series History Against Valdosta State:
Valdosta State holds a 32-9 record against Montevallo in the series that spans back to 1996. Since the Falcons rejoined the GSC in the 2016-17 season, Montevallo is 2-12 against the Lady Blazers. In each of the last two seasons, Valdosta State has taken both of the regular season contests with the Falcons falling to VSU in the first round of the 2023 GSC Tournament a season ago. Most recently, the Falcons dropped a road contest, 87-51, to Valdosta State on Jan. 8.
 
Scouting West Florida: WATCH | LIVE STATS
The Argos opened the season with a 3-1 record in non-conference play before kicking off the GSC schedule with a win over Shorter. West Florida fell to Lee on the road before going on a three-game winning streak with wins over Mississippi College, Delta State and West Georgia. The Argos dropped a meeting with No. 4 Union before rebounding with a win over Christian Brothers on Dec. 17. West Florida then dropped back-to-back games against Valdosta State and Montevallo before bouncing back with a pair of road wins over West Alabama and Alabama Huntsville. Following a loss to Lee, West Florida rattled off back-to-back wins over Shorter and Mississippi College. The Argos went on a three-game skid with losses to Delta State, West Georgia, and Union. The Argos picked up a 69-43 win over Christian Brothers before dropping back-to-back games at Auburn Montgomery and Valdosta State in its last two outings. The Argos will face Auburn Montgomery on Thursday night before heading to Montevallo, Ala. on Saturday.
 
West Florida is the GSC's best rebounding team with an average of 41.3 boards per game with 30.2 of the rebounds coming on the defensive end. The Argos score a fourth-best average of 68.3 points per game while allowing just 60.6 points per game from its opponents. West Florida's defense is tops in the GSC with opponents shooting just 35.5 percent from the floor.
 
West Florida boasts a two-headed attack with Brooke Kane scoring 12.8 points per game and Tyashia Bostick scoring 12.2 points per game. On the glass, UWF is highlighted by a 6.4 rebound per game average from Claire Sutherland-Case.
 
Series History Against West Florida:
West Florida holds the all-time lead over Montevallo with a 37-24 record since the series began in 1982. The two sides have met at least once per season since 1982 except for the stretch when the Falcons were a member of the Peach Belt Conference. Since the Falcons rejoined the GSC, Montevallo is 6-8 against the Argos with a stretch of six-consecutive wins from 2019 to 2021. Most recently, Montevallo defeated the Argos, 70-67, on Jan. 6.