CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The Union University women's basketball team posted a win at Lee University 62-58 Thursday night. With its 11th straight win, Union improved to 22-3 overall and 20-3 in the Gulf South Conference. Lee dropped to 22-5 on the season and 20-3 in league play. 

With the win, Union now moves into a tie atop the GSC standings with one game left in the regular season. Should the teams finish tied, Lee owns the tiebreaker and would earn the No. 1 seed in next week's tournament. Union is now playing for a share of the GSC Regular Season Title Saturday in the last game of the season. Union has finished first or tied for first eight times in the GSC since joining in 2014-15, including each of the last five years. 

The game also was a matchup of two teams with numerous rankings. Union is ranked No. 3, just ahead of Lee at No. 4 in the latest NCAA D2 South Region Rankings. Union is also ranked No. 14 in the WBCA Coaches' Poll and No. 25 in the D2SIDA Media Poll. Lee is exactly the opposite, ranked No. 25 in the coaches' poll and No. 14 in the media poll. 

This game was close the entire way. Union's largest lead of the night was seven points (37-30, 6:35 in third quarter) while Lee's largest advantage was five points (20-15, 6:56 in second quarter). 

A 3-point flurry started the game with Union's Samariah Thompson opened play with a three pointer. It was followed by a three pointer from Lee, then Union's Bethany Dillard answered with her first 3-pointer. Both teams swapped layups, then Lee got its second 3-pointer and the game was tied 8-8 after just over two minutes of play. Union led 15-10 late in the quarter, but Lee close out with five straight points to tie the game at 15-15 at the end of one. 

Lee continued the run with five straight points to open the second quarter, completing a 10-0 run. Union's first points of the second quarter came with 6:28 left on a 3-pointer from Keisharna Lucas. That snapped an almost seven-minute scoring drought for Union. It also sparked a 13-2 stretch for the Lady Bulldogs, including a 10-0 run of their own, capped by another 3-pointer from Dillard. Union led 28-22 and held a 29-26 lead at the half. 

Shanique Lucas' 3-pointer at the 6:25 mark of the third quarter gave the Lady Bulldogs their largest lead at 37-20. Lee kept it close, cutting the deficit to just two points, but Union maintained the lead, including a 44-41 lead entering the fourth quarter. 

Lee opened the fourth with a 3-pionter to tie the game at 44-44 and took a brief lead, 49-47 with 5:17 left to play. It was short lived as Union scored seven straight points to retake the lead for good. Lee again got as close as two points down the stretch, but Union was 6-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 37 seconds to seal the win. 

 Both teams committed 20 turnovers and Lee outrebounded Union 36-27 in the game. 

Union was led by Shanique Lucas with 19 points. Thompson added 16 points, while Dillard added 10 points. Union shot 44 percent from the field, 57 percent (8-14) from long range, and 64 percent (16-25) from the free throw line. 

Lee was led by Schubert with 17 points, Woodworth with 14 points, and Hampton with 10 points. The Lady Flames shot 38 percent from the field, 22 percent (4-18) from 3-point range, and 70 percent (14-20) from the foul Line

Up next for Union will be the last regular season game, a road contest at Shorter Saturday at 1 p.m. central time. Listen locally on 93.1 FM or online at Union's live coverage page.
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