MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Reed Sutton called the most impactful timeout of Faulkner's season with 6:24 left in the first quarter Thursday and the Lady Eagles went on to beat Mobile 70-53 in the first round of the SSAC tournament. Faulkner got the first bucket of the game on a Ryann Sylvester three before missing its next six shots and watching Mobile go on a 10-0 run.

Sutton called timeout, talked to his team, and put in subs for the first time. Coming out of that timeout, the newly-inserted tandem of Olivia Colson and Micala Fisanick combined for an assisted bucket by the latter to spark a Lady Eagle run. Colson then added a basket of her own before a pair of Morgan Holland free throws as the Faulkner bench unit cut the deficit to two points. Holland and Colson then added two more field goals to tie the game at 15 with 2:12 left in the first quarter. At the 1:29 mark, Holland dished off to Adkins for a three and the Lady Eagles took an 18-15 lead.

"After the first few minutes of the game we really settled in and had a great defensive effort," Sutton said. "We made every shot difficult for them. I'm proud of our commitment in our preparation and on the defensive end tonight. That's what wins."

Faulkner got the lead as high as six in the second quarter before Mobile managed to tie the game at 23 on a Lauren Bodino make with 5:22 until half. Fisanick put her team up 24-23 with a free throw at the 3:35 mark. The Lady Eagles never lost the lead again. The free throw started an 8-0 run by Faulkner bench performers that helped balloon the lead to 10 by halftime.

Mobile worked the deficit to within four in the third quarter and down to six with 6:03 left in the game. Faulkner then went on a 15-2 run to take the lead all the way up to 19.
"We got fantastic bench play from [Fisanick, Holland, Evaiah Burrows, and Colson]. It was so good to have [Burrows and Colson] back in the lineup tonight and healthy," Sutton said of a Faulkner bench unit that outscored Mobile reserves 32-3. [Fisanick and Holland] played lights out. They gave us a great spark off the bench. [Fisanick] played will on both ends [Holland] didn't play like a freshman tonight. She was just a ball player."

Faulkner shot 41 percent from the floor and 47 percent from three while limiting Mobile to 29.9 percent from the floor and 20 percent from deep. The Lady Eagles forced 17 Mobile turnovers.

Adkins topped Faulkner with 18 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. Holland notched 13 points and six boards. Fisanick finished with 11 points. Bodino finished with 20 points as the only Ram in double figures.

The win came after Faulkner had lost both of its regular season meetings with Mobile. It also gave Faulkner its first win in a conference tournament game since the 2017-2018 season.

Faulkner (14-12) moves to the SSAC semifinals Friday night at 5 p.m. to take on Middle Georgia State.