Faulkner led nearly the entire contest but found itself in a tight one down the stretch as it dropped William Carey 64-61 Sunday. The Lady Eagles saw Savannah Richardson hit a three with 6:08 remaining to put the hosting Lady Crusaders up 52-51, their first lead since the opening quarter of play. Faulkner fired right back as Nicole Shirley (SO/Tuscumbia, Ala.) took her defender off the dribble and sank a right-handed layup to put Faulkner on top to stay.

"This was such a big win for us in a lot of different ways. They're resilient. There were times when you thought maybe we would lose our poise and lose our cool and they wouldn't allow each other to do it," Faulkner Head Coach Reed Sutton said. "They just weren't going to allow us to lose. We took advantage of every opportunity we had."

The defense of Kayla Key (JR/Hartselle, Ala.) and Micala Fisanick (FR/Troy, Ala.) helped make the newly-found Faulkner deficit a short lived one as the Lady Eagles clamped down to finish the game.

"Those two, I thought really played well today on both ends of the floor," Sutton said. "When they play well, it takes a lot of pressure off Ashlyn (Adkins) and Angela (Grant) and Nicole. When we needed stops the most, I thought Kayla Key's defense and Micala Fisanick's defense really played well on their wings who had really been attacking us."

Faulkner shot 45.8 percent from the floor in the game as four Lady Eagles scored in double figures. Grant finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Shirley had 13 points, five rebounds and four assists. Key had 10 points, four assists and four steals while Fisanick notched 10 points.

"Making shots and making free throws anywhere is critical. I was very excited about our shot making today," Sutton said.

William Carey kept itself in the game by shooting a blistering 54.5 percent from beyond the arc. Faulkner dominated the free throw differential, hitting 13 of its 16 attempts while the Lady Crusaders had only five shots from the charity stripe.

Faulkner (8-3, 2-2 SSAC) finishes at 1-1 on the current road trip and will play at NCAA Division I foe South Alabama in an exhibition Monday.

"We're going down to South Alabama tomorrow. That's going to be an opportunity to really have some fun. We're going to let loose a little bit and have some fun and play hard and just see what gets exposed before Campbellsville comes," Sutton said. "We feel like this road win actually gets that Bethel loss or that Loyola loss back for us. We're going into the holiday in a pretty good place."

The Lady Eagles return to regular season action Dec. 31 when they host No. 5 Campbellsville at noon before taking on Thomas Jan. 1, 2019.

"It really is exciting. That Campbellsville game is one we've had red marked on our schedule a little bit because they put us out of the national tournament last year and they're a nationally ranked program and that's where we want to be," Sutton said.