Union holds watch party to cheer on Lady Bulldogs

JACKSON, Tenn. — Students at Union University gathered to cheer on their Lady Bulldogs basketball team as they compete in the NCAA Division 2’s ‘Final Four’ Tournament.

“This is our second time, last time was 7 years ago. We’re really excited, really big deal for our campus and our school. We’re really just excited, really pumped to celebrate them and cheer them on,” said Hayden Phillips, staff member at Union University.

This evening the Lady Bulldogs competed against South California State University-Dominguez Hills Toros. However, this didn’t stop students from attending the game in person in Pittsburgh.

“There are a few students that made the drive. So they left really early this morning to make it down there. But we do know they made it down there, we’ve been getting updates from them all day,” said Phillips.

Some players from the men’s basketball team were able to sit on the other side of the game to cheer on their classmates.

“Favorite part is the atmosphere. You can’t really bring the game atmosphere to a place like this but you can kind of recreate it. So, its been a lot fun fun cheering the girls on,” said Jack Shackelford, men’s basketball player at Union University.

For those that were able to attend in person, they made sure to cheer enough for those back home.

“I was really sad that it was so far away because, you want to be there and have that support. I talked to a few people here and they were thinking if we were there we probably could have rooted them on and gave them more confidence and more encouragement, especially when they needed it most,” said Basia Brown, assistant volleyball coach at Union University.

Unfortunately, the lady bulldogs were not able to continue the fight for the number one spot as they came up short in the game with a score of 68 to 50. However, supporters continued to cheer them on to the very end.

“Tonight was just a little harder because the other team was skilled and especially offensively. They really applied pressure but it’s only up from here. So next year hopefully we can see them make it to the championship and take it,” said Brown.

For those that attended, they all agreed they are extremely proud of their Lady Bulldogs for making it as far as they have.

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