Faulkner cut it to as little as four in the fourth quarter before Bethel ran it back up and finished off a 65-52 win. 

The Lady Eagles trailed by 10 with 9:07 to play in the game before a Nicole Shirley (SO/Tuscumbia, Ala.) shot cut it to single digits. Ashlyn Adkins (SO/Locust Fork, Ala.) and Kimberly Horton (SO/Cleveland, Ala.) followed with field goals of their own to narrow it to five. A personal 4-0 run from Angela Grant (FR/Hoover, Ala.) over a 30-second stretch cut the deficit to 51-47 with 5:43 to play. 

Jayden Green then knocked down a pair of threes to stretch the lead back to 10 and Faulkner never drew closer than eight for the remainder of the night. 

The loss comes despite a standout defensive effort on the part of Kayla Key (JR/Hartselle, Ala.) and Micala Fisanick (FR/Troy, Ala.) who combined to hold Myah Taylor to 17 points. The senior UT-Martin transfer entered the night averaging more than 22 per game. 

The Lady Eagles scuffled on the offensive end for much of the night, shooting just 29.5 percent from the floor and a devastating 10.7 percent from beyond the arc. 

Shirley headed the effort with 20 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Adkins finished with nine points while Grant had eight points and 10 rebounds.

Tyasia Willis paced Bethel with 20 points and nine rebounds.

Faulkner (5-2, 0-1) returns to action Saturday at 11 a.m. when it hosts SSAC foe Blue Mountain College.