On Thursday, Jan. 26, Union’s women’s basketball team played against Christian Brothers University at Union’s Fred DeLay Gymnasium, beating them 80-67. The win gives the Lady Bulldogs a 13-3 record in the Gulf South Conference (GSC) and a record of 15-3 overall for the season.
The game began with a score from Christian Brothers, a lead which would be short held as Union controlled the tempo of the game. The first quarter ended with a score of: Union-18, CBU-17.
“Our style of play kinda produces more fatigue for the other team than for us, if that makes sense,” assistant coach Sean Blackburn said. “So usually when you see us play teams, it’s a little close in the first half, then in the second half they’re usually caught falling off a cliff. They’re just not used to playing that style of play, and playing that fast.”
The game’s second quarter fell in favor of Union with a score of 36-33. This gap was further widened by the Lady Bulldogs in the third and fourth quarters — with a final score of 80-67.
“I think we gave a great effort and made some steps forward on some of the specifics that we’ve been trying to work on for both defense and offensive execution,” graduate student and center Naomi Van Nes said. “Everyone on the team got involved at different points, which was exciting to see. We played hard for the full 40 minutes, and our offensive rebounding effort was great. We are getting better each game and getting more detail oriented as the season progresses.”
Shanique Lucas led the Lady Bulldogs as the evening’s top scorer with 28 total points. Samariah Thompson added 17 points, followed by Shylee Morrison and Bethany Dillard who each scored 9 points. Shanique Lucas leads the season with an overall total of 260 points.
When asked what the Lady Bulldogs were doing to stay fresh moving towards the tournament, Blackburn gave several examples.
“Ideally with the style we play, nobody on the team has to play super heavy minutes,” Blackburn said. “Obviously against better teams, we are not going to take certain people out, but I feel like we’re doing a good job in practice saving their legs.”
The Lady Bulldogs will play their next game at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 2 in the Fred DeLay Gymnasium against the University of West Florida.
Photo courtesy of Union Athletics
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the game took place on January 1.