CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College women's basketball team fell 69-56 to Union (Tenn.) University on Friday, Feb. 5 inside A.E. Wood Coliseum. MC moves to 3-7 on the season and inside the Gulf South Conference. UU improved to 10-3 and inside the league.
 
The Lady Choctaws were led by Alana Canady with a season-high 14 points while Kyiah Julian poured in 12 points. Mikeba Jones paced the Navy and Gold on the glass with seven rebounds.
 
MC shot 39.2 percent from the floor, including a clip of 31.6 from behind the arc. She connected on 66.7 percent from the charity stripe. The Lady Choctaws combined for 29 rebounds.
 
Jaelencia Williams led the Lady Bulldogs with a double-double as she garnered 19 points and 14 rebounds. Jordan Little added 15 points with Shanique Love providing 14.
 
UU 46 percent from the field, but only managed 4-of-19 from the 3-point line, and hit 19-of-25 (76.0 percent) from the free throw line. The squad grabbed 33 boards.
 
Mississippi College and Union meet for the fourth time this season on Saturday, Feb. 6. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Union held a 21-11 lead after the first 10 minutes of action, but the Lady Choctaws responded with a 12-5 run to clip the deficit to 26-23 with 3:14 left before the half as Rivers Futral knocked down a 3-pointer off an assist from Darien Tubby. Union extended the lead back to seven points at the 2:16 mark of the quarter, but the Lady Choctaws responded again with a 6-1 run to close the half and trail 31-29 at the break.
-The Lady Bulldogs opened the second half with a 9-0 run and quickly pushed their advantage back out to double figures at 40-29. Union's lead swelled to as many as 18 points, 51-33, it's largest lead of the game, with 3:24 left in the quarter. MC managed to cut the deficit to within 11 points, 51-40, heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
-Mississippi College was able to cut the lead under double-digits on two different occasions during the fourth quarter, but couldn't overcome the third quarter. A jumper from NeNe Williams at the 5:45 mark cut the Union lead to 57-48, but a Williams' jumper extended the lead back to double figures. A Julian trey with under three to play, once again, cut the margin to 63-54, but six consecutive free throws pushed the lead to 13 points.
 
KEY STATS/NOTES
-Canady's performance surpassed her previous high of 11 points set at Delta State on Dec. 19, 2020.
-Julian has scored in double figures five times this season with three coming against Union, including her career-high of 20 points on Jan. 22.
-Jones led the Lady Choctaws in rebounds for the fourth time this season and 13^th of her career. It's her third straight contest pacing MC on the glass.
-The Lady Choctaw bench outscored (22-21) the Union bench for the second time this season as it marks the eighth time on the campaign the MC reserves have bested their opponent's bench.
-Tonight marks the fifth different starting lineup for the Lady Choctaws this season.
-The Lady Choctaws' 18 points in the second quarter marks the most this season in the period for the team as it surpassed the previous total of 17 at Delta State on Dec. 19.