Deandra Schirmer

Deandra Shirmer led the Lady Blazers to their first Elite Eight appearance since 1984 last season as the team ended the year with a 26-5 record and a 17-2 mark in the Gulf South Conference. The Lady Blazers upset the No. 1-ranked Union last season to clinch a berth into the Elite Eight.

in 2021, the Lady Blazers finished 13th in the final Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25 to end the 2021 campaign. Schirmer improved her record to 3615 overall and 26-12 in GSC play, while graduate transfer Kwajelin Farrar earned GSC East Division Player of the Year honors, multiple all-region honors and became the first Lady Blazer since 1995 to earn WBCA First Team All-America accolades in 2021. Farrar became the seventh Lady Blazer to earn WBCA All-America honors in program history. Farrar finished the season leading the team in scoring at 14.2 points per game. Farrar was 134 of 226 from the field for a 59.3 average from the floor for ninth nationally and second in the GSC. Her 134 field goals made were good for fourth in the GSC and 35th nationally, while her 11 double-doubles put her tenth nationally and third in the league. Her 9.7 rebounds per game put her 33rd nationally and sixth in the league. She had a team-high 23 blocks for the season in 22 games played and 22 starts.

In her first season in Titletown, Schirmer guided the Lady Blazers to an 18-11 record overall and a 10-10 mark in Gulf South Conference play. Schirmer brought in a couple of key transfers this season in Cheray Saunders and Saniah Simpson-Patu. Schirmer’s squad also had junior Kayla Bonilla who eclipsed the 1,000 career point mark as the 27th player in school history to do so. Schirmer had her biggest win of the season as the Lady Blazers upset then-No. 4-ranked Lee 74-68 on Dec. 17, 2019. Bonilla earned second team all-conference honors this season. As a team, VSU finished third in the league in free throws made (408) for 61st nationally and was fourth in the league in free throws attempted (576) for 74th nationally. The Lady Blazers also were fourth in 3-point field goal shooting at a 33.3 clip for 78th nationally. Schirmer guided the team to its fourth-straight appearance in the Gulf South Conference Tournament.

Valdosta State Athletic Director Herb Reinhard announced Saturday, May 3, 2019, the hiring of Deandra Shirmer as the next women’s basketball coach at VSU.

Schirmer had been an assistant coach at Eckerd College in Florida for the past five years prior to coming to VSU and was elevated to Associate Head Coach in 2018. She also served as recruiting coordinator for the Tritons where her leadership and player development has helped produce the three most successful seasons in program history. Prior to Schirmer’s arrival at EC, the Tritons had not earned a NCAA postseason bid in the 32-year history of the program.

She began her playing career at Cloud County Community College (Kan.), earning allconference and all-region honors. While at Cloud County, she helped lead the team to a 26-7 record as a sophomore and was named Jayhawk Conference Western Division Second Team and was an all-region selection.

Shirmer earned her bachelor’s degree from USCA in business marketing and earned a master’s degree of sports administration from Georgia State.