BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - Junior Brooke Smith became the fastest player to score 2,000 points in a career, but it wasn't enough as Union College dropped a 73-66 Appalachian Athletic Conference contest to visiting King (Tenn.) College.

The win gave King (13-16 overall, 13-5 AAC) the regular-season championship, while Union dropped to 20-10 overall and 12-6 in league play.

Union will next play in the AAC Tournament, which is set to begin Wednesday in Bristol, Tenn. The pairings and seedings will be announced Sunday.

Smith (Pineville, Ky.) hit 13-of-22 shots in scoring 30 points, giving her 2,012 career points. She joins Amber Spencer as the only players in program history to reach the 2,000-plateau. Spencer scored 2,273 points during her career.

The Lady Bulldogs trailed by as many as 16 in the game and by 13 in the second half. However, Union nearly rallied for the come-from-behind victory.

Trailing 65-55 with 2:04 to play, Union reeled off nine straight points to make it 65-64 at the 1:02 mark. Jessica Tharpe then buried a 3-pointer to put King up 68-64 with 39 seconds remaining.

King then iced the game by hitting 5-of-6 free throws in sealing the 73-66 decision.

The Lady Tornado's ability to take care of business at the charity stripe was the big difference in the game. Union shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59 shots) from the field while King made 40.4 percent (23-of-57 shots). Yet, King hit 24-of-32 foul shots (75.0 percent) as Union went 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) from the stripe.

Poor 3-point shooting also hampered the Lady Bulldogs as they went 2-for-19 (10.5 percent) from behind the arc. King, though, was 3-for-8 from long range.

After Smith, Carley Blankenship (Lexington, Ky.) scored 14 points and had seven rebounds. No other Lady Bulldog had more than five points.

Kristy Moody paced King with 23 points, while Tharpe had 15 points and Beth Raby chipped in 10.

Union started the game off with a 6-0 run, but King bounced back with a 15-2 rally of its own to take a 15-8 lead at the 11:59 mark. The Lady Bulldog offense went anemic, going five minutes and 53 seconds between baskets.

Union cut the margin down to five, but the Lady Tornado steadily padded the margin. A Crista Burnett bucket with 1:06 to play made it 36-20. However, Smith scored as time expired to cut the deficit to 36-24 at the break.

Smith was the Lady Bulldog offense in the opening period, scoring 18 of the team's 22 points.

Lady Bulldog Notes

• This was the final home game for seniors Susanna Todd (Eubank, Ky.), Carrie Bistline (Frankfort, Ky.) and Briann Bargo (Somerset, Ky.).
• This was Brooke Smith's fifth 30-point game of the season and second in a row. She has scored 20 or more 18 times this season.
• The 22 first-half points matched the team low this season. Union had 22 first-half points two other times.