MONTGOMERY, Ala. - It took over five minutes for Faulkner (1-0) to score its first basket of the night against Selma University (0-1) here in the annual Jimmy Faulkner Classic, but once the Lady Eagles worked out the first-game jitters there was little the Lady Bulldogs could do to slow the momentum. Faulkner cruised to a 79-51 victory behind a dominant second half effort here at Tine Davis Gymnasium. 

The spark the home team so desperately needed finally arrived as the clock hit zero at the close of the first period when Hannah Vest banked in a half court buzzer-beater igniting the bench and crowed and pulling Faulkner within six of the visitors.

Dyani Thompson's 3-pointer with just over three minutes remaining in the opening half inched Faulkner into a one-point lead, its first of the game. The home team entered the break up 28-22 and once in the driver's seat the Lady Eagles never relinquished control.

The third period was an inversion of the first with Selma failing to convert at the rim until 4:42 into play. Meanwhile, Faulkner started to look a little more like Faulkner and was busy adding 12 points to its lead.

The Lady Bulldogs did manage to cut a 15-point deficit in half by the close of the third quarter, but the surge didn't last long as the Lady Eagles continued to capitalize on turnovers and find more consistency with the deep ball.

Faulkner struggled to control Selma's Tatyana Griffen in the paint, but by the second half the Lady Bulldogs' best weapon inside had taken on more of a guard role. 

After the team's seven-woman roster was trimmed to just six following a late first-half injury, Griffen ran several possessions at point and delivered from the perimeter. She led the court with 27 points.

The Lady Eagles were spearheaded by Faith LeGate's double-double performance. The senior had just four points in the first half, but bookended the contest with 11 more and added 10 rebounds to boot.

Vest had 15 points and eight boards and Savana Flack added 10 points and a solo rebound.

Chelsea Burt logged eight points, six rebounds and three assists.

"I'm happy with the win," head coach Reed Sutton said after the game. "I thought we played very well defensively. It was just one of those first game things early on, but after the first quarter we scored 72 points. Things were working on the inside and we started hitting shots on the outside and things started coming together. As a team right now were working on cohesiveness. We're working together. Our older players are having to sacrifice some minutes now so they're fresh late in the season and that gives the newer players a chance to get in the mix early and let us see what they're going to have for us."

Faulkner takes on Life University (Ga.) in the Classic tomorrow at 5 p.m.