JACKSON, Tenn. - On Monday night, in front of another packed house in Fred DeLay Gymnasium, the No. 9/9 Union University women's basketball team won 65-60 over three-seed Nova Southeastern University to punch their ticket to Pittsburgh, Pa., and the Elite Eight. With the win, Union improves to 32-3 overall, while Nova Southeastern finishes the season 27-7.

"This has been an amazing journey with this year's team," said Union head coach Mark Campbell. "This team loves each other and is sacrificial.  Tonight's atmosphere was electric and our student body was amazing. I have a lot of respect for Nova and their program. Felt like tonight was similar to several games down the stretch of our season. We are a very resilient team. We're all thankful to get more time together and we won't take it for granted. Thank you to this community for the support and the advantage they gave us the entire regional!"

The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead after a layup from Olivia Lee and three-pointer from Alexis Callins. The team went on to win the first half 36-25. The Sharks came out fighting in the second half, winning the third quarter 16-11 and the fourth 19-18, but it wasn't enough to surpass Union who secured the victory after four free-throw makes from Emily Jones with less than 20 seconds remaining.

Callins led the Lady Bulldogs with an impressive 23 points. She was 8-14 from the field and 5-11 from beyond the arc. Jones followed with 14 points of her own as she shot 4-6 from the field and 2-2 from three-point range. Overall, Union shot 37.7 percent (23-61) from the field, 28.6 percent (8-28) from beyond the arc, and 61.1 percent (11-18) from the foul line.

Macey Lee had the most rebounds with seven. She also put up two blocks, tying Keisharna Lucas for the most in the game. Callins grabbed the most steals with three, and Olivia Lee dished out the most assists with four.

Jess Moors led the Sharks with 10 points, and Madison Cloonan had the most boards with 12. As a team, Nova Southeastern shot 40 percent (26-65) from the field, 8.3 percent (2-24) from three-point range, and 60 percent (6-10) from the free throw line.

Olivia Lee, Jones, and Callins all made the South Region All-Tournament Team due to their remarkable performances in the three games Union played. Lee averaged 12.7 points per game, while collecting five rebounds, eight assists, one block, and two steals. Jones averaged 11 points per game and had nine rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Callins was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament as she averaged 15 points per game and accumulated four rebounds, three assists, one block, and six steals.

Up next, the Lady Bulldogs will travel to Pittsburgh, Pa., for the first round of the NCAA D2 Women's Basketball Championships, which will be played in UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

-UNION-