MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner pushed through a slow start to come from behind and hold on for a nonconference win over Blue Mountain College at Tine Davis Gymnasium Tuesday evening. 

After trailing 20-18 after the first quarter, in which the visitors connected on 52.9 percent of their shots, the Lady Eagles outscored the Lady Toppers 22-19 in the 10 minutes before halftime. Though the game kept its back-and-forth pace, the home team was able to maintain the lead through the remainder of the game. Megan Wilkinson was responsible for Faulkner's last four field goals of the half, by providing an assist to Evaiah Burrows's shot, and scoring her team's last eight points before going to the locker room. The final bucket, a three-pointer with 36 seconds on the clock, gave the Lady Eagles their first two-score lead of the game at 40-36. However, Carissa Horton of Blue Mountain made it a one-point game at the half with a shot from just beyond the arc at the eight-second-mark. Horton was the Lady Topper who hit a buzzer-beater around the same time last season at the halftime gun in Tine Davis, which ultimately cost Faulkner in a one-point loss. The Lady Eagles went on to make sure that did not happen this time around. 

"Well, I think, first of all, Blue Mountain's a good team," said Faulkner Head Coach Reed Sutton. "You know, so, we have to give them a lot of credit for coming in with a good plan and playing aggressively. For us, we haven't played against much zone, and they were playing, you know, playing the zone. And you can practice against it as much as you want. We really haven't had much practice time over the last month, we've been playing too many games. So, we didn't have a whole lot of practice time against it, so it just took us a while to kind of get the passing game going in that. And fortunately, we made enough shots there in that first quarter to hang in there. And then we started picking it up during that second quarter." 

Any momentum the visitors gained from the development evaporated when Channing Gafford hit a long-range shot of her own 15 seconds into the second half. The play was the beginning of a 17-6 run that put Faulkner firmly in the driver's seat. The field goals after the opening sequence consisted of a Micala Fisanick rebound and jumper after a block by Jacie Andrews, a three, as well as a layup, from Ashlyn Adkins, a one-handed layup by Andrews following her board at the other end and a Morgan Holland three-point play following a Gafford block. Holland would get the team's last basket of the third quarter as well, a breakaway following her interception of a pass. 

The visitors refused to go away, though, scoring eight of the last 10 points in the period, including two threes from Olivia Chadwell. Faulkner responded to each Blue Mountain push in the final quarter, outscoring the latter 17-14 and gathering eight defensive rebounds. Even when the Lady Toppers narrowed the margin to two points with 6:12 left in the game on an offensive rebound and bucket by Mallory Russell, Fisanick rebuilt the multiple-score lead permanently on her long-range shot. 
The Lady Eagles shot 48.1 percent from the court and 46.4 percent from three, compared to the visitors' 40.9 and 32 respectively. Faulkner's bench outscored the opponent's reserves 25-11. Sutton attributed the Lady Toppers being worn down in the fourth quarter to the play of his team's bench unit. 

Adkins paced Faulkner with 13 points and 10 rebounds, good for a double-double, along with five assists. Andrews was not far behind with 12 points, two assists and three boards. Fisanick had nine points, two assists and four boards. Ryann Sylvester also scored nine points. Wilkinson came off the bench to score 11. Gafford tallied eight points, four rebounds, and three blocked shots. 

Chadwell led her team by recording 19 points. Russell racked up 10 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Mackenzie Lane registered 13 points and eight more boards, while Kandice Ricks got nine points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. 

Faulkner increases its winning streak to four games, evening its overall record at 7-7. The Lady Eagles are set to travel to Middle Georgia State for a conference double-header this weekend.