On Monday, Jan. 22, the Union University women’s basketball team played against Delta State University in Union’s Fred DeLay Gymnasium, winning 91-51 and improving to a perfect 2-0 this year against Delta State. The win gives the Lady Bulldogs a 13-1 record in the Gulf South Conference (GSC) and a 19-1 record on the season.
The Lady Bulldogs came in hot in the first period with an early 19-point lead after causing the Lady Statesmen to turn the ball over 9 times in the first 10 minutes of the game and going up 29-10.
“Coach Campbell made some adjustments on our press, so instead of taking the inbounder immediately, we played in between and just judged on how good the trap was and really tried to take the middle away so that the other team didn’t get momentum,” Brooke Hampel, a graduate student and guard, said. “I think our last two games we did a very good job of adjusting and executing that.”
The game’s second quarter fell in favor of Union with a score of 57-25. Hampel finished the first half 5-5 from the floor and 2-2 from three-point range.
Olivia Lee, a freshman guard and undecided major who has been named GSC Freshman Player of the Week twice, spoke highly of her teammates and the chemistry on the team.
“The chemistry is just something I’ve never felt before. Even in high school, I was a part of a state championship winning team, and it’s even different than that. Like, it’s just a crazy atmosphere to be a part of,” Lee said. “There’s just me and one other freshman on the team, and we both feel like the older players have just as much confidence in our shot as anyone else’s. That feels like you get a lot more confidence in yourself once you realize that they have that same respect for you.”
Lauren West made her second three-pointer of the evening with six minutes left in the third quarter, giving the Lady Bulldogs a 35-point lead. Shanique Lucas, Brooke Hampel, Emma Kallas, Lauren West, and Olivia Lee all tallied double-digit points before the fourth period started, putting even more pressure on the Lady Statesmen.
“I feel like we’re all very talented individually, but when we come together it’s just like a different kind of good, if that makes sense,” Lee said.
Hampel commented on the team’s chemistry as well and how it makes them so different from other teams.
“It really feels like a family atmosphere and the way we play in practice,” Hampel said. “It gets you ready to play with a whole bunch of different combinations in the game.”
The gap was further widened by the Lady Bulldogs with a final score of 91-51.
For the second game in a row, Hampel led the Lady Bulldogs as the evening’s top scorer with 14 total points. Lee and West added 13 points, followed by Emma Kallas who scored 12 points. Shylee Morrison led the team in rebounds with five and Jazalyn Anousinh led all players in assists with seven in the victory. Macey Lee leads the season with an overall total of 270 points.
“We don’t go into a game with the mindset that we’re just gonna slug a team. We don’t go in there with the mindset that we’re not gonna play hard,” Hampel said. “I also feel like it helps take the pressure off when the coaches repeatedly tell us all the time that they just want us to make the right read and take good shots. So it kind of takes the pressure off to perform really well all the time when you just know they just, they want your best.”
The Lady Bulldogs will play their next game at 2 p.m. on Jan. 27 in the Fred DeLay Gymnasium against the University of West Georgia Wolves.
Photo courtesy of Union Athletics