Faulkner had its best quarter in the first and largely struggled thereafter en route to a 66-58 victory over Thomas Thursday night. The Lady Eagles surged to an early 18-9 lead and turned the ball over only once in a 21-14 first quarter. Faulkner then proceeded to turn the ball over 27 more times over the next 30 minutes of play, largely nullifying the effects of its otherwise strong play.

The Lady Eagles outshot Thomas to tune of 50 percent shooting from the floor while the Nighthawks hit only 36.4 percent of their tries. Faulkner also snagged 40 rebounds as compared to 26 by Thomas.

Still, the Nighthawks cut the deficit to within five multiple times in the second half. The last such surge saw Alexis Powell drain a three ahead of a Destiny Reed layup to narrow the gap to 55-50.

From there, Faulkner embarked upon a 7-0 run punctuated by a Channing Gafford (JR/Athens, Ala.) three with 2:26 to play, upping the lead to 62-50.

Angela Grant (SO/Hoover, Ala.) paced Faulkner with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Ashlyn Adkins (JR/Locust Fork, Ala.) added 14 points to go along with five rebounds. Samantha Gilbert headed Thomas with 11 points.

Faulkner (6-2) returns to action Tuesday when it travels to Huntsville to take on Oakwood University.