BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - Fifth-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan stood toe-to-toe with No. 2 seed Union and pulled out a 77-74, double-overtime victory Tuesday to win the 2010 Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Championship.

Tennessee Wesleyan (17-15 overall) advances to the NAIA Division II National Championship Tournament for the eighth time in program history and first since 2004.

Union ends the season 22-10 overall.

Senior Brooke Smith (Pineville, Ky.) nearly posted a triple-double with a game-high 34 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks. During the tournament games, Smith scored 94 total points and blocked 20 shots.

Tennessee Wesleyan had four players to score in double figures with Katie Blevins' 20 leading the way. She got the bulk of her points at the foul line in going 11-for-12.

Amy Jo Castor followed with 17 points while Lindsay Jackson scored 16 points, all of which came in the second half and overtime. Heather Gibson helped out with 10.

Union had an opportunity to win it in regulation. Down 62-60, Smith hit a pair of free throws to tie it with 55 seconds to play. Then with 5.2 seconds remaining, Carley Blankenship (Lexington, Ky.) was fouled and sent to the line for the bonus. However, she missed the front end of the 1-and-1.

Candace Cain grabbed the rebound, but Tennessee Wesleyan never got a shot off as time expired to send the game into overtime.

In the first overtime, Union took the early lead on a pair of Smith free throw, but Tennessee Wesleyan netted the next four points to take a 66-64 advantage with 2:55 to go.

Once again, Smith came through in the clutch by hitting a pair of free throws with 15 seconds on the clock to even the score at 66.

Jackson attempted a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but it was off the mark as the game headed into a second overtime.

Just like in the first overtime, Union scored first, yet Tennessee Wesleyan used a 6-0 run to grab a 72-68 lead with 1:02 remaining.

Trailing 74-70, Blankenship hit a layup to pull Union within two with 19 seconds left. Gibson hit 1-of-2 free throws at the 17-second mark, putting the margin at 75-72.

Kara Pile (Fairdale, Ky.) scored on a layup with 3.9 seconds to go to make it a one-point contest, but Blevins was fouled with 2.5 seconds left. The Tennessee Wesleyan senior guard hit both free throws to make it 77-74.

Pile attempted a long-range 3-point shot, but it was well shy of the mark as Tennessee Wesleyan captured the victory and the AAC Tournament title.

After Smith, Blankenship was the only other Union player to score in double figures with 13 points to go with eight rebounds.

Union hit 41.2 percent (28-of-68 shots) from the field but went 4-for-19 (21.1 percent) from 3-point range. Tennessee Wesleyan, conversely connected on 38.8 percent (26-of-67 percent) from the floor and hit 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) on 3-pointers.

Tennessee Wesleyan's big edge came at the foul line and on the boards. Tennessee Wesleyan went 18-for-21 (85.7 percent) at the line as compared to Union's 14-of-20 (70.0 percent) performance, while outrebounding Union 51-38 for the game and 32-23 in the second half and overtime.

In addition, Tennessee Wesleyan had 13 offensive boards and 10 second-chance points, and Union managed just seven offensive rebounds and two second-chance points.

National Qualifiers named for the women's basketball tournament.