Box Score TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. – The 200th win in program history was scarcely ever in doubt Saturday as Faulkner finished the regular season on a high note with a 99-60 win over Florida College. There were five lead changes in the contest, all in the first quarter, before Faulkner seized control of the game.
"We are so blessed to have had great players, coaches, and trainers in our program who have given their very best for the sake of the team. Our administration is at the top for the support they give our teams. I'm glad that we played today in a way that would honor all of those women who paved our path," Faulkner Head Coach
Reed Sutton said of the milestone accomplishment for his program. "It was good to have MC (Bell) Mendoza in the crowd today. She was on our very first team and she got to celebrate the big milestone with us! Those relationships are what makes Faulkner Basketball special."
The Lady Eagles took the lead with 2:26 left in the first quarter when
Ashlyn Adkins drained a three. She made another at the 1:46 mark to push the advantage to four. Faulkner got three free throws to round out the quarter with a seven-point lead.
After a Florida College bucket to start the second, Sutton's team went on an 8-0 run to push the lead to double figures for the first time. The Lady Falcons cut the deficit to nine on three occasions in the frame. However, a
Ryann Sylvester make off a
Micala Fisanick assist left Faulkner up 11 at the half. The lead never dropped under double digits again.
The Lady Eagles opened the second half on an 11-4 run before ending the third quarter on a 17-7 run that pushed the lead to 28. Faulkner mounted a 14-3 run to open the fourth quarter and push the advantage to 39.
Faulkner hit 56 percent of its shots from the floor and made 15 threes at a 48 percent clip. The Lady Eagles assisted on 27 of 34 made baskets and won the rebounding battle 47-33.
"It was an awesome game today from our whole team. I thought Jolee, Melanie, and Lauren really played critical first half minutes when we had early foul trouble and held the lead defensively," Sutton said. "They also finished the game well on the scoring end. It is nice to see 27 assists on 34 baskets. We are an unselfish team and the ball found the shooter very well today. Our defensive and rebounding effort in the second half was really solid. That allowed us to extend the lead and get separation. We needed to get some momentum and confidence heading into the tournament and we found a rhythm today and accomplished that goal."
Adkins topped Faulkner with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Morgan Holland finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.
Channing Gafford had 16 points and seven assists while
Megan Wilkinson finished with 14 points. Sylvester, Fisanick and
Jacie Andrews scored eight apiece.
Faulkner (13-12, 6-6 SSAC) faces Mobile Thursday in the SSAC tournament at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
