Turnovers along with missed shots and free throws plagued the Millburn girls basketball team on Thursday at MHS, with the girls suffering their third straight loss, 47-40, against Union.

When the Miller girls look back on this game, they'll point to 26 turnovers, 14 of which came in the first half, as the biggest reason for the loss. On top of the girls giving up the ball so many times, making 14-of-40 shots from the floor along with 13-of-23 from the free throw line, made getting a win against the Farmers a very tall task.

"These are the things that we practice every day. Ball fake, ball fake, ball fake, they just didn't do it today," said Millburn head coach Bill Drennan. "We're just not a good shooting team. The lack of shooting has been going on all season."

Still, Millburn was in the game throughout, never trailing by double digits until the final three minutes of the contest, where the visitors took an 11 point lead on two separate occasions.

Midway through the third quarter, Miller senior, Taylor Perretti, swiped a steal and started a fast-break where she found Jenny Smith down the floor for an easy lay-up. The basket put Millburn up 25-23 with four minutes to play in the third quarter. But over the next eight minutes, Union took over the game, mounting a 17-7 run, taking a 40-32 lead.

The Millers were never able to get closer than seven after the Union spurt. During the eight-minute stretch where the game was decided, Millburn turned over the ball six times and made just two-of-10 shots from the floor. Meanwhile, the Farmers committed four turnovers, but made seven-of-11 shots during the same stretch.

"The things that we are practicing every day like catching, squaring and facing up to the basket and pump faking, we don't do it," Drennan said. 

Both Smith and Union's Jamiyan Bethune led the way with 18 points in the game, with Smith adding in 10 rebounds to lead all players. Perretti also had a nice game for Millburn, chipping in 11 points and three boards.

As it has been for much of the season, Millburn's defense was its best attribute in the game. The locals forced 21 turnovers and allowed Union to sink just 38 percent of its shots from the floor. But the Millers' own turnover struggles ended up being their undoing.

After beginning the season with a 4-1 record, the new year has not been kind to Millburn. The Miller girls have gone 1-7 in 2012, playing multiple games in the higher Super Essex Conference American Division. Against the Liberty Division, where the locals are newcomers this winter after winning the Colonial in back-to-back seasons, the Miller girls are 1-5.

"We know we've played a lot of tough, tough teams," Drennan said. "The kids play hard, I think they're enjoying themselves and that's the bottom line here in Millburn."

Drennan commented that his team's lack of an interior presence has been a problem for his girls so far this season on the offensive side of the ball. What's worse is that the Millers aren't the best shooting team, so outside of production from Smith, the team's offense has been very limited.

"We have absolutely no inside game. None. We rebounded, seven, eight, nine times and they took it right out of our hands. That's killing us," Drennan said. "Without Courtney Brosnan, we are missing that rotation at guard, where we can get Jenny a break. We can't even give her a break. We're asking her to handle, we're asking her to shoot."

The loss dropped Millburn to 5-8 overall, while Union improved to 5-9. Millburn is in action again at home against Science Park on Tuesday.