WISE, Va. - Union College's quest for an Appalachian Athletic Conference regular-season championship and an automatic berth to the NAIA Women's Basketball Division II National Championship Tournament remain alive following the Lady Bulldogs' 89-73 victory at UVa-Wise Saturday.

After playing its final regular-season contest, Union is now 22-7 overall and 15-3 in league play, while UVa-Wise dropped to 5-25 overall and 3-15.

Union's postseason dreams stay afloat with Covenant (Ga.) College (21-7 overall, 14-4 AAC) losing 65-64 at Tennessee Wesleyan College (13-16 overall, 10-8 AAC). With Covenant's loss, Union is guaranteed a share of the league crown as King (Tenn.) College defeated Bryan (Tenn.) College 81-64 to improve to currently 18-10 overall and 15-3 in conference play.

Since both teams have identical 15-3 conference records and split the season series, Union and King will meet in a playoff game Monday at 7 p.m. to determine the regular-season champion. The game will be played at Tennessee Wesleyan in Athens, Tenn.

The AAC Tournament is slated to begin Wednesday in Bristol, Tenn., with the championship round scheduled for Saturday.

In the win over UVa-Wise, sophomores Brooke Smith (Pineville, Ky.) and Ashley Lunsford (Orlando, Ky.) combined to score 50 points to guide Union to the 89-73 victory.

Smith went 12-of-16 from the field in netting a game-high 27 points. Meanwhile, Lunsford nailed 9-of-10 shots from the floor and 5-of-6 from 3-point range in recording a career-high 23 points. Her previous career best was 17 points, which she posted against Pikeville (Ky.) College on Dec. 11.

Union shot 58.3 percent (35-of-60 shots) from the field and made half of its 3-point attempts (13-of-26).  Meanwhile, UVa-Wise nailed 71.4 percent (10-of-14) of its 3-point tries but connected on just 23-of-51 shots (45.1 percent) from the floor.

Bolstered by 14 points from Smith, Union opened the game on a tear as it built a 23-8 advantage by the 13:27 mark. UVa-Wise cut the deficit down to 38-32 by the 2:17 mark, but Union closed the half on a 5-0 run to take a 43-32 lead into the break.

In the second half, the margin never dipped below 12 points and Union led by as many as 22 (76-54 with 8:21 remaining) en routed to the 16-point victory.

After Smith and Lunsford, Susanna Todd (Eubank, Ky.) chipped 11 points and a game-high seven assists.

Brittany Maxwell paced UVa-Wise with 25 points, while Lauren Jervis posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Lady Bulldog Notes

• Allison Fowler (Morganfield, Ky.) became the third person in program history to record 400 career assists. She dished out six in the win Saturday, giving her 404 and putting second all-time. Andrea Hillard dished out 654 during her career, while Tara Bailey-Middleton recorded 403.
• Brooke Smith is inching closer to 700 points on the season as she currently has 691. Amber Spencer owns the single-season record as she scored 725 during the 1992-93 campaign.
• The 22 wins ties the program record for most wins during the regular season. Union went 22-9 during the 2002-03 regular-season and finished the year 25-10, having won the AAC Tournament and advancing to the NAIA Division II National Championship Tournament.