JACKSON, Tenn. – The No. 4 seed West Florida women’s basketball team’s NCAA Tournament run came to an end with a 75-66 loss at No. 1 seed Union (Tenn.) Saturday night at Fred DeLay Gymnasium in Jackson, Tenn.

The Argonauts (20-9) kept the game close but were unable to upset the No. 12 nationally-ranked Lady Bulldogs (28-3) who remained undefeated at home this season.

“We started off slow,” UWF coach Stephanie Lawrence Yelton said. “We’ve got a very young team. Before this season, I don’t know if anyone would have predicted that we’d win 20 games with such a young team. For this team to battle to get 20 wins, make it to the NCAA Tournament and get a win in the first round, is a huge stride for us.”

UWF had advanced to the NCAA South Region Semifinals for the third time in school history. The Argos won 20 games in a season for the fifth time in school history and finished with their best winning percentage (.670) since 2005-06.

Brianna Williams (Minneapolis, Minn./North Dakota) led UWF’s scoring effort with 20 points and five rebounds.

Jasmine Wigfall (Orlando, Fla./Timber Creek HS) scored 12 points with five rebounds, three steals and three assists. Kelly Preston (Waunakee, Wisc./Denver) added 12 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

“Coming into this game, we had a giant in front of us,” Yelton said. “Union is a great team. They’ve got a great scorer on their team. We just came out a little slow, but we fought back. We cut the lead, stayed on it, but we just didn’t have enough to come back.”

The Argos trailed by as much as 18 in the first half, down 30-12 at the 7:57 mark. But UWF cut the lead to single digits to trail 42-33 at the break.

UWF cut UU’s lead to two, down 51-49 with 12:17 remaining in regulation, but the Lady Bulldogs went on a 9-2 run and held on the rest of the way for the win.

Toni Brewer (Huntsville, Ala./Sparkman HS) finished the season with 253 rebounds, the eighth most in a single season at UWF. Williams finished the season with 71 steals, tied for the 10th most all-time in a single season.