The Lady Bulldogs walked into Memorial Coliseum Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 2,095 people to face the NCAA Division 1, nationally-ranked Kentucky Lady Wildcats.
Union played a strong game, but the Kentucky team had height and precision on their side, outshooting the Bulldogs 50-6 in the paint.
But Union dominated outside of the arc, shooting 17 three-pointers throughout the course of the game that the Kentucky team was unable to stop.
Senior Kelsey Risner, and freshman Tiffany Rechis each scored five three-pointers, the most in the game.
“It was really amazing to get the opportunity to travel to Kentucky and play such a prominent SEC team,” Risner said. “Our team is one of the best at the long-shot, and it was awesome to see that show against tough competition like this.”
This is Kentucky’s ninth season under head coach Matthew Mitchell, who has had the best record in the school’s history and the programs’ sixth straight season as a top 20 team.
This weekend’s game was not the first tough exhibition match against a prominent SEC team for the Lady Bulldogs. Last week the team traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to face off against the LSU tigers, which ended in an 88-57 loss for the Bulldogs.
Despite the losses, the team’s ability to keep up with the tough competition and their win against Rhodes in Saturday’s homecoming game bodes well for the season. The next game for the Lady Bulldogs is Friday at Rollins College in Tampa, Florida.
Head Coach Mark Campbell said it speaks volumes that the team was able to keep up with one of the best teams in the nation and defend as well as they did.
“I was really proud of our kids and how they competed,” Campbell said. “I want the team to be in the most difficult situations early so that we can prepare for more later.”
