JACKSON, Tenn. – Playing before a full house inside the Fred DeLay Gymnasium, sixth-ranked Union University outscored Lee 23-16 in the third period and claimed a 69-49 GSC victory on Thursday evening. The Lady Bulldogs improved to 27-2 overall and 21-2 in conference play. Lee University slipped to 18-9, 16-7.

Coach Marty Rowe will regroup his squad on Friday and then travel on over to Memphis and close out regular season play against Christian Brothers University on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. (CST). Lee will begin GSC tourney play on Tuesday, hosting the first-round game.

The two rivals battled to a 16-16 tie at the end of the first quarter.  With Mallory Hampton already in foul trouble and sitting out a portion of the second frame, Union outscored the Lady Flames 15-9 and took a 31-25 halftime advantage.

In the third period, the Lady Bulldogs knocked down three triples and more importantly went to the charity stripe 10 times and sank eight. On the other hand, the Lady Flames were unable to convert a 3-pointer and made only four freebies.

The Union lead continued to grow to 58-41 with 7:14 remaining in the final period and all hopes ended for Lee when Hampton left the game with her fifth foul. All totaled, the Lady Flames' leader played only 25 minutes in the contest and finished with 14 points.

Anna Muhonen was the only other Lee player in double-figure scoring. She converted 6-of-10 shots from the field and totaled 12 points and a team-leading eight rebounds. On a positive note, the Lady Flames outrebounded Union 41-35. Addison Smith grabbed six boards and Baylee Delbridge came on in a reserve role and added five.

Lee's biggest enemy was 24 turnovers against the aggressive Union defense. The Lady Bulldogs turned the mistakes into 29 points. The Lady Flames held a 24-22 margin in points in the paint. Neither team shot well overall. Lee made 17-of-49 attempts (35%) and just 2-of-16 treys (13%). The Lady Flames cashed in on 13-of-16 free throws. Union made 20-of-56 shots from the field (36%) and converted 9-of-28 triples (32%). The Lady Bulldogs held an advantage at the charity stripe, knocking down 20-of-26.

Eight Union players scored as Coach Mark Campbell shuffled players in and out of the lineup. Emma Kallas came off the bench and was the leading scorer in the game with 16 points. Brooke Hampel followed with 12 points. Eight of her 12 points came at the free-throw line. She also had a double-double with 11 rebounds.

Coach Marty Rowe's thoughts:

"Union is a tough place to play but we didn't play very well at all. We missed a lot of easy shots and made too many turnovers to allow us a chance to win the game.

"It's a hard game to play with such a long layoff but no excuses, we have to play much better on Saturday."