Much like in its season-opening 58-25 loss against Terry Sanford, the Union Pines girls’ basketball team struggled to score consistently and allowed too much down low defensively Tuesday in their rematch against the Bulldogs in Fayetteville.

The result was a 48-33 non-league win for the homestanding 4-A Bulldogs, who improved to 3-0 on the season. With the loss 3-A Union Pines’ record on the year dropped to 2-3. The Lady Vikings have yet to string together consecutive wins five games through the season.

Early on both teams had a tough time finding the bottom of the basket as a hard-fought defensive first quarter ended with Terry Sanford leading 9-6.

By halftime the Bulldogs had built a 24-9 lead on the strength of a 15-point second period. Power forward Ny’Asia King paced Terry Sanford with three big buckets in the quarter and closed the half with 10 points and five rebounds.

After scoring only three points in the second quarter as their 6-foot freshman Stephanie Johnson was forced to play spectator with two personal fouls, Union Pines found some semblance of an offensive rhythm in the second half.

The Vikings got an eight-point quarter from sophomore power forward Charlotte Holder in the third period on their way to tallying 10 points. Still, Terry Sanford managed to score at a steady clip in the paint and from the line to carry a 36-19 edge into the final quarter.

In the fourth period Union Pines got six of its 14 points from Johnson but was just too far behind to ever pose a viable threat to Terry Sanford. The Bulldogs opened the stanza with a solid four minutes to take a 41-23 lead and end any doubt as to the outcome of the contest.

King led Terry Sanford in scoring with 12 points. The senior captain also finished the night with eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Senior small forward Shaniqua Bowman and 6-foot-3 freshman center Ona Udoh also hit double digits with 10 points apiece. Udoh tallied a game-high 16 rebounds, while Bowman had a game-high seven steals.

Holder had a huge night for Union Pines, finishing with a 12-point, 15-rebound double-double. Johnson came close to a double-double as well with 11 points and eight boards. Freshman point guard Marissa Smith only scored two points, but still left her mark with six rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Lexie Coxe scored two points and led the Vikes with five assists.

The Bulldogs improved to 4-0 on the season Wednesday with a 55-40 road victory over 4-A Hoke County in Raeford.

Union Pines returns to the hardwood tonight (Friday) in Siler City for a nonconference clash with the undefeated 2-A Jordan-Matthews Jets (6-0) at 6 p.m.

Union Pines 6 3 10 14 — 33

Terry Sanford 9 15 12 12 — 48

Union Pines: Holder 3 6-15 12, Johnson 5 1-1 11, Coxe 1 0-2 2, Smith 0 2-2 2, M. Harris 1 0-0 2. C. Hobgood 1 0-1 2, A. Jackson 1 0-0 2. Totals - 12 9-21 33.

Terry Sanford: King 6 0-4 12, Bowman 4 2-4 10, Udoh 5 0-2 10, Roulhac 2 4-8 8 L. Alphin 1 0-0 2, L. Brayboy 1 0-0 2, B. MaGee 1 0-0 2, L. Johnson 1 0-0 2, I. Okons 0 0-2 0. Totals - 21 6-18 48.

Three-point goals: none