WESTMINSTER, Md. – The new-look Union College women's basketball team got its 2026-27 season started on Friday evening at the Rebecca Martin Memorial Tip-Off Tournament, hosted by McDaniel College at the Gill Center. The Garnet Chargers had trouble shaking off the rust and fell to the Catholic University of America by a 93-52 margin.
Sophomore
Ryley Tate-Padian led Union (0-1) with a game-high 17 points, followed by classmate
Ryanne Gulbin with 13 points to go with a game-high nine rebounds and four assists. The rest of the team, however, scored just 22 points combined in a losing effort.
Union started the new season slowly, missing its first eight shots and turning the ball over six times over the first five-plus minutes before junior
Olivia Cunningham hit a jumper to snap a 7-0 Catholic run and get Union on the board. The deficit was still five after a Tate-Padian layup with 2:12 on the clock before Catholic closed the period on a 9-4 run to double its advantage to 10 (18-8) after 10 minutes.
After shooting 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) in the first quarter, Union hit just 4-of-13 shots (30.7 percent) in the second stanza while Catholic shot 61.1 percent (11 of 18) to blow the game open early. Leading by 15 (33-18) with 4:00 left in the quarter, the Cardinals closed with 12 straight points to take a 45-18 lead into the half.
The Garnet Chargers could get no closer than 23 points in the second half despite outscoring the Cardinals by two in the third quarter.
In addition to shooting 35.1 percent (20 of 57) from the field, Union was also done in by its 31 turnovers, which helped lead to 37 Catholic points on the other end. The Garnet Charger bench was also outscored by a 50-11 margin on the night and Catholic had a 50-28 scoring edge in the paint as well.
Union will look to rebound tomorrow, when the Garnet Chargers take on Wilson College in the consolation game beginning at 2 p.m.
