Lady Bulldogs victorious in first two rounds of NCAA tournament

The energy in the Fred Delay Gymnasium multiplied play after play on Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14 as the Lady Bulldogs played in the first two rounds of the NCAA Division II national tournament. A sea of red shirts erupted with cheers as every basket sunk into the net. “Let’s go dogs, let’s go dogs” was chanted loudly by the crowd of fans in the student section.

Friday night’s game proved to be a tough fight for both teams. The score went back and forth between the Lady Bulldogs and the Albany State University Lady Rams. The final score at the end of the first half was 46-43 with Union leading the way.

The competition heated up in the second half when the Lady Rams caught up to the Lady Bulldogs and even led at one point, 71-69. However, the Lady Bulldogs regained their composure and went on a run to lead the Rams 80-71. Union was then able to extend their lead, winning by a final score of 92-83.

Union was led by Amy Philamlee, senior exercises major and guard, with 34 points. Kelsey Risner, junior exercise science major and guard added 27 points and ten rebounds. Risner shot 64 percent from behind the arc.

Saturday proved to be just as intense. The Lady Bulldogs moved on from the first round to play Gulf South Conference opponent the University of West Florida.

Union came out strong in the first half and maintained their lead, as they were ahead 42-33 at the half.

The second half proved to be a lot closer as West Florida continued to play hard. With 12 minutes left in the game, Union only led by two points, 51-49. However free throws proved crucial for the Lady Bulldogs as they were able to stretch out their lead, 75-66 to wrap up the game.

Union was again led by Philamlee with 35 points. Philamlee went a perfect 11 for 11 from the free throw line. Risner had 12 points, and Amber Rechis, senior exercise science major and guard added 11 points.

“It has been awesome to play at home and have everyone supporting us like that have,” said Emily Sissom, senior special education major and guard. “I think the toughest part about playing West Florida was having to play a team that we have already played twice this season and they have both been good games. We had to really come out ready to play and know they probably had a little revenge behind them.”

With the two victories this weekend, the Lady Bulldogs advance to the South Region championship game to be played on Monday, March 16 at 7 p.m. in the Fred Delay Gymnasium. The winner moves on to the elite eight of the national tournament.

“It’s an awesome feeling to go this far our first year and I think we have surprised a lot of people,” Sissom said. “We have worked really hard for this and we aren’t stopping here.”