Jackson, TN—The Union Lady Bulldogs won their sixth consecutive conference championship including each of the five TranSouth titles since its beginning in the 1996-97 season. Union defeated the Lady Lions of Freed Hardeman by the score of 84-64.

Freed Hardeman jumped to an and early 5 point lead, but the Lady Bulldogs took the lead at the 13 minute mark of the first half and never looked back. They led by as many as 12 in the first half before heading to the locker room up by 9, 43-34. In the second half, Union extended their lead to 11 early, then kept the momentum by running off 10 unanswered points. Union led by 21 with eight minutes to play and never trailed by more than 15 points after that point. The Lady Bulldogs’ largest lead of 26 came with one minute 27 seconds left in the game.

Leading the Lady Bulldogs was Mary Catherine Way with 25 points including 5 of 9 from three-point range. Tasheka Brown proved to be big after Union’s center, Allison Harrison left the game early with a sprained ankle. Brown tallied a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Tonya Tougles also managed a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard added 10 points and seven rebounds. Leading the Lady Lions was Tosha Gardner with 15 points and Leah Holcomb with 12 points and five rebounds.

The Lady Bulldogs shot 59% from the field including 43% (6-14) from three-point range. Neither team missed a free-throw on the evening as Union shot a perfect eight of eight and Freed Hardeman shot 15 of 15. Union out rebounded the Lady Lions 38 to 27 and held them to a 35% shooting percentage on the night.

Head coach Mark Campbell said of his Lady Bulldogs’ performance, "We are getting better at valuing every possession. We continue to have people step up when someone gets hurt. We had five girls that could have been on the All-Tournament team."

Union’s Mary Catherine Way and April Pearson along with Freed Hardeman’s Dandace Khuns and Tosha Gardner were selected to the All-Tournament Team.

#DOGS#