MEMPHIS-The Christian Brothers University Lady Bucs rallied from 14-point deficits to come within single digits in each half against No. 15/8 Union, but the Lady Bulldogs eventually pulled away for good in an 84-72 win Thursday night in the Lady Bucs' final game of the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Union (25-3, 18-2 GSC) used a 17-5 run to open a 22-10 lead on a Jada Perkins jumper with 1:23 remaining in the first quarter, a lead they would build to as many as 14 when  Bria Gaines three-point play gave them a 30-16 cushion with 7:45 remaining in the second.
• The Lady Bucs (9-17, 8-12) answered with an 11-0 run to pull within 30-27 on an Emily Reeves (Somerville, Tenn./Fayette Academy) free throw with 4:47 remaining in the first half. Shelmesha Barbee (Ripley, Tenn./Ripley HS) scored seven of her career-high 11 during the run.
• The Lady Bulldogs answered with a 7-0 burst to extend their lead to 41-31 on a Sara Lytle layup with 1:11 remaining in the half. 
• After Union rebuilt their lead to 14 points four times in the third quarter, CBU mounted one more comeback. A 7-0 burst capped by a Brynne Lytle (Jackson, Tenn./Trinity Christian Academy) triple brought them within 64-57 with 8:37 remaining.
• Union eventually pulled away for good with a 7-0 run midway through the fourth quarter, taking their largest lead of the game at 82-65 on a Perkins three-point play with 4:26 remaining.

KEY STATS:
• Kelsey Adkins (Lawrenceburg, Tenn./Lawrence County HS) tied her career-high with 15 points to lead the Lady Bucs, shooting 6-of-9 including 2-of-5 from three-point range in 17 minutes off the bench.
• Mikaela Blissett (Oran, Mo./Scott County Central HS) celebrated her Senior Night with 13 points and a game-best eight rebounds, shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-5 from the free throw line.
• Barbee scored all of her 11 points in the first half, finishing 5-of-6 from the field with three assists, also a career-high, before fouling out in 17 minutes.
• Courtney Banks (Memphis, Tenn./White Station HS) scored 10 points on her Senior Night, with a game-high seven assists and six rebounds.
• CBU shot 52 percent (26-of-50) from the field including 35 percent (7-of-20) from three-point range. The Lady Bulldogs finished 52.4 percent (33-of-63) overall, including 15 percent (3-of-20) from beyond the arc.
• The Lady Bucs out-rebounded Union 33-27, including a 10-9 edge in offensive boards, but they committed 23 turnovers to the Lady Bulldogs' 10, which Union converted into a 25-8 edge in points off turnovers.

ASSISTANT COACH BAILEY NORTH'S THOUGHTS:
"This team has no quit in them. We were down a lot, but we never gave up one time. They showed it again tonight. After we had those 13 turnovers in five minutes, they came back and only had one the rest of the half. We did a great job being more aggressive inside with the post and with the ball in our hands driving more and getting to the foul line because of it. These kids don't quit and I'm proud of the effort they put out there for the last game of this season."

On the team's growth this season:
"I thought as a team we really tried to emphasize getting shots quickly before we had a chance to turn it over. At the Christmas break we tried to change our identity a bit and I thought we worked really good when we were emphasizing those four second splits. We wanted to get the ball down the floor and get into our offense with 26 seconds left on the shot clock. Once we were able to do that effectively and consistently, we looked really good. Going from the beginning of the season in November to now that was the biggest change I saw from the team as a whole. Individual players you know we got Courtney Banks in the second half and she made a huge difference. Our points per game went up significantly when she went in and having her in there as an extra scorer in the second half of the season was huge. Mikaela Blissett played the season of her career, easily. This is my first season with the team, but having her presence on the floor was huge for us. She rebounds the crap out of the ball day in and day out, whether it's practice or in the games. I thought she had a fantastic season and it's sad to see her and the other seniors go out on this."

On the variety of options going forward:
"That's stressful on the coaching staff sometimes, because we really have no idea who's going to step up yet. Kelsey had a huge game tonight, Kenzie has had huge games for us and so has Brynne. Going into a game who do teams prepare for looking at it from the other side? Who do you say we have to lock down? We really don't have just that on person and its exciting going forward because we have Brynne, Kenzie, and Kelsey all these players who played good minutes for us this season and have all that experience going forward. It really is exciting."

About Coach North's path to CBU:
"I'm from the Chicagoland area, the suburbs. So if I say I'm from Chicago to someone actually from the city they'll give me a little flack about that. I played at a fellow DII school, University of Wisconsin Parkside, for four years and went to the national tournament my sophomore year. We went 22-8 and that was our best year so that was a lot of fun that year. I'd love to be on the coaching staff for a team like that, which goes 22-8. While I was playing I was coaching AAU with a team out of Milwaukee where I was going to school. I coached for four years and ran a tournament so I've been involved in all sides of basketball so far and am excited to now be in the college ranks and love being here. I love Memphis and love the warm weather! I'll take the rain here over the snow."

On early signings and recruiting:
"We are about to hit the recruiting trail really hard. Still looking for a couple to add to the team for next season, so we have some work to do. We have 4 freshmen coming in.  We've got  a point guard from Memphis, a shooting guard from Nashville, a 3/4 power forward from Collierville, and a 4/5 coming from Wisconsin my homeland."

SENIOR NIGHT:
Before the game, CBU honored its four seniors: Rafaella Angelidou (Thessaloniki, Greece/Aristoteleio Kollegeio), Emily Reeves (Somerville, Tenn./Fayette Academy), Mikaela Blissett (Oran, Mo./Scott County Central HS) and Courtney Banks (Memphis, Tenn./White Station HS).