On March 1, the Lady Bulldogs basketball team hosted and won the Gulf South Conference (GSC) Tournament Quarterfinals against the University of Montevallo 69-53.
This most recent win is coming off of a season of incredible success for the team. They ended the regular season being undefeated in their conference and going 24-2 overall. These wins earned Union the top seed going into the GSC tournament, the No. 3 rank nationally in both the WBCA Coaches’ Poll and the D2SIDA Media Poll and the top seed in the NCAA Regional Rankings.
Union head coach Mark Campbell comments on what makes the team so successful.
“As a coach, a lot of times we’re as good as the talent that we have,” said Campbell, “but we also have a lot of people that really care about each other. I think that combination of talent and preparation and then really caring about each other is important whether it’s a team, a family, or a group of people that just hang out, and I think those things are true of our team.”
This sentiment is not just shared by Coach Campbell. Junior exercise science major Shanique Lucas has similar thoughts on the reason for the team’s success.
“We have a lot of talent and a lot of pieces and new players that were able to come together this year, and we’re really just able to bring out the best in each other just because of the talents that each of us have,” said Lucas. “But yeah, I’d just say that loving each other and working together has definitely impacted us.”
Both Campbell and Lucas cite the maturation of strong team leadership, team cohesion, and talent as reasons for their success and things to take into the weeks ahead.
This is the seventh year in the eight years that Union has been in the GSC that the team has made it to the GSC championships. In their quarterfinals game Tuesday, Union hit 49 percent of their shots made from the field, 42 percent from the 3-point range, and 65 percent from the free-throw line.
Jaelencia Williams led the Lady Bulldogs with 21 points, followed by Emily Beard Dunnagen who added 12 points and Shanique Lucas and Bethany Dillard, who each added 9 points.
Campbell said that the most important thing to take into any postseason is “confidence in one another.”
“I think that’s a big thing this time of year—confidence in us as coaches and how we prepare, our confidence in the players’ abilities, our confidence in the fact that they are listening to us and that they respect and trust us. So ultimately, if you don’t have trust, you’re not going to go very far,” said Campbell.
Union will play the No. 5 seed Delta State University in Birmingham, Alabama on March 5 for the GSC semi-finals. In a single-elimination tournament, the Lady Bulldogs will have to win against Delta State in order to advance to the GSC finals on March 6.
“There’s no concrete expectations as far as end results,” said Campbell. “If you really trust the talent and you trust the preparation and you trust how they care about each other, then all you’re asking for is perfect effort, and that means this: no circumstance dictates the change of attitude or effort. I think if that’s true, the results take care of themselves.”
Union’s top seeding in the NCAA Regional Rankings makes them the favorite to host the South Region bracket of the national tournament in two weeks.
For more information on the Lady Bulldog’s postseason or Union Athletics visit https://uuathletics.com/sports/womens-basketball.
Photo by Union Athletics.
