Faulkner appeared poised to exorcise its demons against Middle Georgia State after a strong start in the SSAC Tournament Wednesday afternoon. Following a 20-point first quarter, the Lady Eagle offense stalled en route to a 62-55 loss.

Middle Georgia's Dexshalyn Polite hit a pair of free throws with 5:46 left in the second quarter to snap a stretch of 8:24 in which the Knights were scoreless. Kianna Delas hit a layup with 4:24 left in the second for the first Middle Georgia field goal since the 4:10 mark in the first. Despite the lockdown defensive effort by Faulkner during that stretch, Middle Georgia refused to stay down. The Knights tied the game with 1:21 left in the half by mounting an 8-0 run of their own. Ilyn Spann hit a jumper with just over 30 seconds left in the second to put the Knights on top 29-27 and end the half with a 13-2 Middle Georgia run.

The teams played hot potato with the lead in the third quarter and Faulkner appeared poised to enter the fourth with the advantage after a pair of Taylor Jones (JR/Montgomery, Ala.) free throws with 11 seconds left. Gabby Hill cashed in a Delas assist at the buzzer to put Middle Georgia up 43-42 with 10 minutes to play.

The Lady Eagles never regained the lead again. Middle Georgia pushed the advantage to 10 with 6:28 to play before Faulkner mounted its comeback attempt. Megan Wilkinson (FR/Lumberton, Texas) and Micala Fisanick (FR/Troy, Ala.) each drained a triple over the span of 57 seconds to narrow the deficit to 58-55 with 3:47 to play. Faulkner did not score again.

The Lady Eagles ended the first quarter on a 10-0 run, spurred by the post presence of Grant. The Faulkner freshman had 10 points and five rebounds in the game's first 10 minutes. Grant dropped a shot with 8:33 left in the second to move it to a 12-0 run and a 22-16 lead. Faulkner then went cold, scoring only five points the remainder of the quarter, all off the hand of Laura Jones (FR/Bonifay, Fla.).

The third quarter appeared doom to be equally frustrating until the 3:48 mark when Fisanick and Ashlyn Adkins (SO/Locust Fork, Ala.) found the range from deep, accounting for a 9-0 run on their own and cutting the deficit to 40-39.

Adkins paced Faulkner with 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Grant posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the final game of her freshman year.

Joy Sadler led all scorers with 18 points. Hill finished with 14 while Polite had 13.

Faulkner wraps its season at 14-16 overall.