The Union University women’s basketball team (24-1, 16-1) defeated Montevallo (11-13, 7-9) 95-74 behind an efficient offensive performance and a dominant third quarter in the Fred DeLay Gymnasium on Thursday night.
The Lady Bulldogs’ entire 21-point margin of victory was attained in the third quarter when sophomore guard Emily Beard nailed five of six three-pointers during Union’s 32-11 outburst.
“That’s just Emily for you. It’s no shock to me,” junior guard Jada Smith said. “I see it all the time in practice and stuff. [Tiffany Rechis] can do it too; a lot of our players can do it.”
Perhaps most notable were the performances of Union’s top three scorers. Morgan Martin, Beard and Smith combined for 64 points on 25-31 shooting.
Despite the prolific offensive performance, though, the Lady Bulldogs’ defense was not quite up to the task against the Flames, giving up 74 points to one of the weakest offenses in the conference.
This marks the second-most points Union has given up all season, the worst having come less than a week earlier when they gave up 81 points to Mississippi College, another below average scoring team.
“This has been one of the best defensive teams I’ve had up until the last few weeks,” head coach Mark Campbell said. “I just don’t think we’re jumping the basketball, and I don’t think we’re communicating very well.”
Despite the underwhelming execution over the last few games, Union does rank third in the Gulf South Conference in scoring defense behind just Valdosta State and Lee, who is the only team to beat Union this season.
Smith was asked about Union’s Feb. 21 rematch against Lee and how the Lady Bulldogs can come out on top.
“I think the biggest thing is going into games not preparing for other teams but preparing for ourselves [and] improving on our defensive mistakes,” Smith said. “We’ve just got to play fast and execute our game, and if we do that we’re not gonna lose really to anybody.”
