As the final seconds began to tick away, All-American guard Chesley Shumpert, star forward Sara Lytle, and graduate transfer Kyvin Goodin-Rogers started to walk off the court for the final time. They were excellent all season long, but for this night, it just wasn’t enough. For these three, their incredible college basketball careers are now over. However, the legacy of excellence that they have set for the Lady Bulldogs is only just beginning.
“I gave my teammates everything that I had,” said Lytle. “It wasn’t about me. It wasn’t even about the win. It was about them and how they’re working hard.”
The Union University Lady Bulldogs fell short in the NCAA Division II Final Four at Sanford Pentagon on Wednesday night, losing 70-57 to the Central Missouri Jennies in a hard-fought battle. The Lady Bulldogs finished their season with a record of 32-4, their most wins since joining the NCAA in 2012-2013. Central Missouri will now advance to the national championship.
There are no trophies for moral victories or “champions of life,” whether it’s in basketball or anything else. But let’s make one thing clear: there have been no moral victories for the Lady Bulldogs. There have been victories, period.
Making the Final Four out of 352 eligible Division II teams is an incredible accomplishment, even if the season ends in a loss. Being both the Gulf South Conference regular season champion and the Gulf South Conference tournament champion is also an incredible accomplishment. The Lady Bulldogs have done much more than vindicate themselves in defeat. They have established themselves as perhaps the greatest team in Union’s history.
“If I’m judging every year by end result, if everybody judges every year by their last game, man, you got a lot of misery,” said head coach Mark Campbell. “Again, I believe this has been the most successful year in Union basketball history, based on what has gone on in people’s hearts.”
And the last game of the year was certainly a hard one for the Lady Bulldogs.
After a tight first quarter in which both teams felt each other out, Union trailed the Jennies 17-16. However, the second quarter was when the Jennies began to outclass Union, as uncharacteristically poor ball movement and stagnant offense caused Union to have four turnovers and just one made field goal in the first five minutes of the quarter. A scoring spurt from Lytle allowed Union to only trail 34-25 at the halftime. Jada Perkins and Bria Gaines led Union with seven points each.
But unlike two of Union’s other NCAA tournament games, a comeback was simply not in the cards. Many of Union’s strengths failed them, including three point shooting, as they only shot 4-17 from beyond the arc. Shumpert, who was the nation’s fourth leading scorer, only finished with 14 points.
However, even on a night where nothing seem to go right for them, the Lady Bulldogs’ resiliency was on full display. When Union trailed 55-40 with less than three minutes left in the third quarter, the Lady Bulldogs went on a 8-0 run, including five points from Shumpert. In the fourth quarter, Union would get the deficit down to five at 60-55 after a Goodin-Rogers’ three, but fatigue and poor shooting would keep them from getting any closer. Free throws allowed UCM to seal the game in the final minutes.
It was certainly not the way that they hoped to end the season. Fortunately, the legacy of excellence that this year’s Lady Bulldogs have left behind will likely continue into next season as well.
Eight of the 14 players on Union’s roster will return next year, including starters Tiffany Rechis and Jada Perkins. They will lose important players in Shumpert, Lytle, Gooden-Rogers, Gaines, Anna Lea Little and Tiara Caldwell. However, there are very good young players who are ready to fill their roles, as well as new recruits.
