Posted by Jay Stancil - Fri, Feb 20, 2009 - [ Women's Basketball ] - Viewed 301 times

BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - Everything is on the line Saturday when Union College plays host to King (Tenn.) College in the regular-season finale.

Union and King make up two-thirds of a three-way tie for first place in the Appalachian Athletic Conference standings as they along wil Milligan (Tenn.) College own a 12-5 league mark.

If King wins Saturday, the Lady Tornado will win the conference championship regardless of whether Milligan wins its game against Tennessee Wesleyan College. King swept the season series from Milligan, giving it the tie-breaker.

Should Union win and Milligan lose, the Lady Bulldogs will capture the league crown outright. But if both Union and Milligan are victories, the two will play Monday at 7 p.m. on a neutral court for the No. 1 seed for the AAC Tournament and the automatic berth to the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship Tournament.

In other words, the entire season hinges on the final weekend.

Union and King will tip off at 4 p.m. Saturday.

The Lady Bulldogs notched their 20th victory of the season Wednesday with a 79-76, come-from-behind victory at Montreat (N.C.) College, marking the first time in program history Union recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons.

Junior Brooke Smith (Pineville, Ky.) demonstrated why she is the reigning AAC Player of the Year as she hit 16-of-21 shots and 11-of-12 free throws in scoring a season-high 43 points.

Smith also hauled in 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season.

The 6-foot forward/center leads Union in scoring and rebounding, averaging 21.6 points and 7.93 rebounds per game.

King (12-14 overall) enters the game on an eight-game win streak. In fact, the Lady Tornado's last defeat came against Union in a 57-47 tilt on Jan. 21.

In its last game, King overcame a 50-41 halftime deficit to pull out a 79-68 victory over Tennessee Wesleyan Wednesday. Kristi Moody and Ashley Deans lead the way with 19 and 18 points, respectively.

Deans leads King in scoring and rebounding as she averages 14.9 points and 7.33 rebounds per game.

To view live stats of the game, click here.

To view a statistical breakdown of the matchup, click here.

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