The struggles continue for Head Coach Steve Sweat and the varsity Lady Tigers’ basketball team.

Last week, the team dropped a game to Jefferson, 56-39, Tuesday and Union County, 57-27, Friday. With the two losses, Dawson currently stands at 4-16 overall and 0-4 in Region 8-AA North.

The Lady Tigers have lost nine straight games.

Tuesday, the Lady Tigers traveled to Jefferson (9-13) to take on the Lady Dragons. Jessi Phillips scored a career-high 20 points, but it wasn’t enough as Dawson lost 56-39.

“We played them pretty close except for the third quarter,” said Sweat. “We keep digging ourselves a big hole and we are not able to fight our way out of it.”

Also scoring for the Lady Tigers were: Cheyenne Bennett with 8 points; Morgan Bennett had 5; Kimberly Wallace with 4; and Morgan Huber had 2 points.

Union County (14-7; 3-1) visited the Ford E. Phillips Center Friday.

The Lady Panthers jumped out to a quick 26-8 lead after one quarter.

Dawson couldn’t solve Union’s full-court pressure in the opening quarter and allowed Union County to build a 17-point lead.

In the second quarter, Dawson played better under control outscoring the Lady Panthers 9-7. It wasn’t enough. Union went into halftime with a 33-17 advantage.

The Lady Panthers kept up the defensive pressure in the second half.

Union’s defense allowed only three Lady Tiger points in the third quarter, building on the team’s big lead. The score was 49-20 to start the fourth quarter.

Dawson played better in the final period. but it wasn’t enough as they dropped a 57-27 decision to the Lady Panthers.

Lady Panther Candice Williams led all scorers with 31 points.

Freshman Morgan Huber and sophomore Cheyenne Bennett led the Lady Tigers in scoring with 6 points each.

“We really struggled against their full court press and gave the ball up too many times,” remarked Sweat. “You can’t do that against a good team like Union.”

The Lady Tigers will play their last two regular season games this week before preparing for the region tournament.

Dawson will play host to Fannin County (14-8; 3-1) tonight.

Friday, the Lady Tigers will travel to Rabun County (19-2; 4-0). The Lady Wildcats are currently leading 8-AA North Sub-Region.