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The Lee women's basketball team fell to rival Union University, 85-72 on Thursday evening in front of a packed and boisterous Walker Arena crowd.

The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to an early advantage and never looked back in avenging a loss just 12 days ago to the Lady Flames in Jackson. 

Lee got a big performance out of freshman standout Abby Bertram. The point guard had 20 points and was active on the defensive end with three steals. Shelby Brown joined Bertram in double-figures with 12 points to go along with five rebounds. 

Union countered with 20 points from Jada Smith. Bria Gaines proved to be a force in the paint as she added 18 points and 11 rebounds. Tiffany Rechis canned three triples and had 15 points while Chelsea Bodiford hit four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points.  Fredi Nielsen came off the bench for the Lady Bulldogs and pulled down 11 rebounds.

The Lady Flames pulled to within six points on two separate occasions in the second half but were unable to draw any closer than 69-63 on a foul shot from Bertram with 8:17 remaining in the game.

Union used the three ball to sustain the advantage in the second half as they hit 8 of 16 from beyond the arc, six of those coming in the final two quarters. The Bulldogs finished the game at 47.3 percent from the floor. 

The Lady Flames ended 6 of 20 from 3-point distance and shot 38.3 percent overall. Lee converted just 20 of 31 foul shots (64.5 percent) 

Usually a strong staple of the Lady Flames rebounding proved to be a liability as Union held a 42-30 advantage on the glass. The Lady Flames pulled down just 17 defensive boards. Coming into the night Lee was averaging 31 defensive rebounds per game, good enough for fifth place in all of NCAA D2.

"We didn't compete tonight, anybody who's not bias knows we didn't compete defensively or on the boards. The hungrier team won tonight. They were really prepared and followed their game plan perfectly," said head coach Marty Rowe. "We missed way too many easy shots and we ended up getting what we deserved tonight. I was just very disappointed in our effort. We didn't play with a sense of urgency or purpose and credit Union because they brought the fight to us all night long."

Lee falls to 12-6 overall and are now 7-5 in the GSC. Union gets a much needed win to improve to 10-9 on the year and 5-8 in league play.

"That's a really good Union team and they have a great coach. They've been hammered by injuries for much of the year and that's hurt them but when they are healthy they are as dangerous as any team in this league and they proved that tonight," added Rowe.

The Lady Flames and Union were playing in front of a national audience as the game was broadcasted live on ESPN3. 

The Lady Flames will make a quick turnaround as they host Christian Brothers on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Lee will then travel to Shorter for a Monday night tilt with the Lady Hawks at 6 p.m.

"We've got to regroup and get ready for Saturday because Christian Brothers is another really good team," concluded Rowe.