JACKSON, Tenn. – The Union University women’s basketball team will be playing in the 2021 NCAA D2 Women’s Basketball National Championships for the sixth time in the seven years of being eligible for NCAA postseason play.
Union will be the No. 4 seed in this year’s region tournament and will face Gulf South Conference foe and 5th-seeded Montevallo Falcons, Friday, March 12 at 4 p.m. Central time.
The Union game(s) will be carried locally on NEWS/TALK 101.5 FM. Internet audio and streaming of the games can be accessed at www.uuathletics.com/live.
This is the sixth appearance for Union in the national tournament region round. Union has hosted three of the six region tournaments participated, earning three No. 1 seeds, two No. 2 seeds, and a No. 4 seed. The 2020 region tournament was not played due to being canceled for COVID. Union is 5-3 in region tournament games, including two wins in 2015 before falling in the region title game. Union won all three games for a region title in 2018, advancing all the way to the NCAA D2 National Semifinals. Union lost in the opening game in 2016 and 2019 region tournaments.
The 2021 region tournament looks different from previous years. One change is that the NCAA reduced the national tournament field size from 64 teams down to just 48 teams. This means the eight region tournaments only have six teams per tournament, instead of the usual eight teams. Another change is that, with many conferences not playing this year or only a few teams from some conferences participating, the look of the regions have changed. For this year only, the region alignment has been adjusted to make all eight regions as close to the same number of possible participants as possible. In the South Region, the SIAC conference was moved out and the Peach Belt Conference came in. The Sunshine conference only had a few teams participate in basketball this season, but none made the region tournament.
Union earned the automatic region bid after winning the GSC Tournament for the second straight year and fourth time overall (2015, 2018, 2020, 2021). The fourth GSC Tournament Championship moved Union in a tie for second place with Arkansas Tech with the second most GSC Tournament Titles in conference history. Delta State has a stronghold on the first-place spot with 16 GSC Tournament Titles.
Shanique Lucas was named the 2021 GSC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, while Lucas and Jaelencia Williams earned all-tournament honors. Elli Pratt was named the GSC Champion Scholar for women’s basketball. Williams was named the GSC West Player of the Year. Both Williams and Lucas were named first-team All-GSC West performers. Union head coach Mark Campbell was tapped as the GSC West Coach of the Year.
Four of the six teams in the 2021 South Region Tournament are from the Gulf South Conference. Valdosta State (3-seed) and Lee (6-seed) both join Union and Montevallo in the field. The host North Georgia is the No. 1 seed and Lander is the No. 2 seed, both from the Peach Belt Conference. North Georgia and Lander have just one loss on the year, and it was to each other.
The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds each earn a buy in the first round. No. 1 North Georgia awaits the winner of the No. 4 Union/No. 5 Montevallo winner at 4 p.m. Central time, Saturday, March 13. No. 2 Lander awaits the winner of the No. 3 Valdosta State/No. 6 Lee game, Saturday, March 13 at 7 p.m. Central time. Admission Procedures: This championship is a closed admission event. Only a limited number of spectators on each member institution’s official pass list will be granted admission.
The host and top-seeded North Georgia team is no stranger to Union or the folks in Jackson, Tenn. The University of North Georgia, formerly known as North Georgia College and State University, was a regular participant in the NAIA National Tournament in Jackson, Tenn.
