Himes' great night not enough, as WBB falls to Wesleyan

BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - Despite a fast start and a dominant 26-point, nine-rebound performance from McKenzi Himes, a series of lulls were too much for the Union women's basketball team to overcome in a 73-57 loss to Appalachian Athletic Conference rival Tennessee Wesleyan Saturday.

Himes got things started with a layup on the Bulldogs' first possession and the defense forced six turnovers in the opening 4:52 to race out to a 15-5 lead.

But as has been the case for much of Union's 2-11 start, a few issues quickly snowballed. Immediately after the lead reached 10, Alexis Bates and Yeika Jimenez Diaz hit 3s on back-to-back possessions, and Wesleyan eventually rallied to take a 19-18 lead on a Jordan Wright 3-pointer on the final possession of the opening period.

Wesleyan proceeded to score the first five points of the second quarter and saw its lead stretch to 16 early in the third, as four different players reached double figures.

Despite the young group's struggles, Himes has continued to establish herself as one of the AAC's top post players, finishing the night going 11-of-17 from the floor. She has topped 20 points in three of her last four games and is currently shooting 63.9 percent from the floor, which ranks 10th nationally and is nearly 10 points higher than anyone else in the AAC.

Ciara Uphoff added a season-high 12 points while LeAsia Linton and Gracie Jervis each had five assists to go along with four and three steals respectively for Union, which drops to 2-8 in AAC play.

The Bulldogs won't be back on the floor until Dec. 20, when they travel to face NCAA Division I opponent Eastern Kentucky at 2 p.m.