INDIANA, Pa. - For a group accustomed to lopsided victories, the Union girls basketball team proved Wednesday night it also can win the close ones.

Leading Conemaugh Valley 54-51 with 12 seconds remaining, junior forward Andrea Mortimer calmly stepped to the foul line and drained two free throws, sealing a 56-53 victory in a PIAA Class A second-round affair at Indiana (Pa.) University's Memorial Fieldhouse.

The win sends the Damsels (27-2) to the state quarterfinals against Kennedy Catholic Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

It was just the fourth time this season that Union won a game decided by five points or fewer. Its average margin of victory is a staggering 26.3 points.

"I was nervous before the game because I knew we were facing a good team," said Union coach Josh Meeker. "But I'm just so happy for the girls. They've worked so hard for it."

Union appeared set to pull away several times in the second half, holding a 34-25 advantage in the third quarter and two separate eight-point leads in the final frame.

That's when the Blue Jays (22-7) turned to their two big guns, Samantha Pollino and Kayla Brandle, who scored 23 and 17 points, respectively.

"Sam played every position for us tonight," said Conemaugh Valley coach Teri Cruse. "That makes it hard on opposing defenses because they really have to think about how they're going to defend us.

"And when teams start collapsing on Sam, she dishes it off to Kayla. That's how (Kayla) gets a lot of her points," she added.

Like the Blue Jays, Union relied on its top two scorers for the majority of its points. Mortimer led the team with 18 while junior Beth Koch tallied 15.

The Damsels often use a big run to knock out an opponent in the first quarter, and it appeared the Blue Jays would suffer the same fate.

Trailing 2-0 with six minutes left in the opening period, the Damsels produced a 12-0 spurt in the next three minutes for a 10-points cushion.

But, as they would do all night, the Blue Jays battled back. With 5:45 remaining in the first half, the Damsels' lead had been cut to 15-13 and they held a modest 25-23 lead at the break.

"We knew Union liked to come out and jump on teams early," said Cruse. "We told our girls that if it happened tonight, to just stay calm and play their game," she added.

"(Conemaugh Valley) did a nice job of breaking our press," said Meeker. "But a lot of it was also the fact we were being inconsistent with our ball-handling. We were picking up our dribble too soon and getting out of our game plan."

The Blue Jays defense turned the tables on Union, pressing the Damsels several times throughout the game. Each team committed 19 turnovers.

"The difference is that we are a lot deeper," said Meeker. "We can press really any time we want because we can rotate several girls in and out, whereas (Conemaugh Valley) played just six girls and they couldn't press the whole game."

CONEMAUGH VALLEY 53

Samantha Gelles 2 0-0 4, Samantha Pollino 6 11-12 23, Kayla Brandle 8 0-0 17, Emily Coy 1 0-0 2, Jil Baronouski 0 1-2 1, Carlie Frick 3 0-0 6. Totals: 20 12-14 53.

UNION 56

Tiffany Corle 3 0-2 7, Andrea Mortimer 5 8-10 18, Janele Divins 1 2-2 5, Mackenzie Shirey 1 1-2 3, Beth Koch 6 3-4 15, Nikki Davis 2 2-2 6, Denyelle Painter 1 0-0 2, Molly Scott 0 0-0 0, Courtney Horner 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 16-22 56.

3-point goals:

Brandle; Divins, Corle.

Saturday:

Union vs. Kennedy Catholic, PIAA Class A quarterfinal, site and time TBD