Box Score JACKSON, Tenn. - In a game that featured the nation's top two scorers, it was a player known more for her assist that ended up scoring when it was the most needed.

Kayla Hudson scored 15 of her game-high 27 points in the second half as No. 1 Union (Tenn.) University pulled away to defeat No. 5 Freed-Hardeman, 76-65, on Saturday afternoon.

FHU's Meribeth Boehler and Union's Sarah Chan came into the game as the No. 1 and No. 2 scorers in the NAIA respectively, and the duo did not disappoint scoring 17 points each. But it was Hudson, who is Union's all-time assists leader, that took over offensively when Chan went to the bench early in the second half with four fouls.

Meanwhile, Boehler earned her points the hard way, dealing with double- and triple-teams for the entire game. She still managed to go 6-for-10 from the field.

In addition to Hudson, rebounding played a big role in the outcome of the game as the Lady Bulldogs dominated the boards by a 44-20 margin. Union (17-0, 4-0) had nearly as many offensive rebounds (16) as Freed-Hardeman did total rebounds.

Union got a traditional 3-point play by Sara Chan and a deep 3-pointer from Kayla Hudson to take an early 16-9 lead then extended it to 19-11 on another 3 by Hudson, this one from 30 feet on a loose ball that got tipped right to her at the top of the key.

But the Lady Lions (13-4, 2-1) had a long-range answer in the form of Leslie Morgan, who drained four straight 3-pointers to lead a 14-5 run that gave FHU its first lead of the game at 25-24 with 8:16 left in the half.

Union later used a 6-0 run to get back ahead by five, but FHU stayed close even with Boehler on the bench after taking an elbow to the mouth. Natalie Shumpert scored FHU's final seven points of the half, including a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left, to send the Lady Lions into halftime down by two.

Then, when Chan picked up two fouls in the span of 20 seconds and headed to the bench with over 17 minutes to play, Hudson took over the responsibilities of the offensive leader.

The Lady Lions battled hard to stay close with Shumpert, who finished with 17 points, hitting some timely shots but could not overcome the extended possessions Union got with offensive rebounding.

FHU returns to action on Monday as the Lady Lions host Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) University at 2:00 PM.