The Union University Women’s basketball team hosted the 2022 NCAA D2 South Region Championships in the Fred DeLay Gymnasium March 11, 12 and 14, winning all games except for their final game in the championship against Valdosta State University 66-58.
Remaining almost completely undefeated, the Lady Bulldogs played against Savannah State University and Eckerd College over the weekend, ultimately concluding their season with a loss on March 14.
While their loss to Valdosta State prevents the Lady Bulldogs from advancing to the finals, their season has seen more victories than losses.
Lady Bulldogs guard and junior exercise science major, Shanique Lucas credited the successful season to the team’s comradery.
“Our team is really big on family and just loving each other on and off the court…I definitely attribute a lot of our success to just the plain and simple fact that we love each other and want to work hard for each other and play for each other,” Lucas said.
Lucas hopes the events of this past season will motivate the Lady Bulldogs to continue their efforts into the future.
“We’re just gonna try to I guess next year just come out, learn from our mistakes and kind of adapt to whatever the new team is gonna look like…give our gifts away and again, make the most of the opportunities,” Lucas said.
Since becoming a D2 team, Union has hosted the NCAA D2 South Region Championships three times, but the Lady Bulldogs entered the 2021-2022 season with the goal of hosting the championships a fourth time.
After speculating that Union would host the championships, university administration received confirmation less than a week prior to the championships.
Director of Athletics Tommy Sadler believes the championships will have lasting impacts on school pride and economic growth in the community.
“It [South Region Championships] brings people from pretty much all over the south…I think there’s a huge economic impact for our community,” Sadler said. “We have partners here in town and when we say we’re hosting things and reach out to them they’ve seen the economic impacts of what our programs do for team’s coming in.”
Despite Union’s loss to Valdosta State, Sadler believes the Lady Bulldogs represented the team well throughout the game.
“You’re not defined by one loss or a scoreboard…there’s a lot of other things that define our team, the character of our team, the way they represent our university, the way they represent our student body, the way they represent their families and the way they represent Christ,” Sadler said. “Sometimes that representation is more evident in a loss than it is a win.”
Julie Powell, professor of sports management, commented on the energy of the tournament over the weekend. She hopes the Union community continues to support the Lady Bulldogs in the future with the same enthusiasm present at the tournament.
“For me, I would love every home basketball game to have that kind of atmosphere,” Powell said.
