BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – In a game that featured six ties and three lead changes, Faulkner found itself with a need to fight through a pivotal fourth quarter sequence Thursday. The Lady Eagles saw a nine-point fourth quarter lead completely dissipate before they ratcheted up the offensive intensity to put away Blue Mountain 67-58. 

"Our kids kept the faith," Faulkner coach Reed Sutton said of the crucial road win that keeps his team out of the basement of the SSAC standings. "They competed for four quarters."

Angela Grant's free throw to open the fourth quarter scoring put Faulkner up nine before Charmen Taylor knocked down a three for the Lady Toppers. Grant's layup at the 8:51 mark put Faulkner up eight and served as the last Eagle points for nearly four minutes. From there, Blue Mountain embarked on a 9-0 run sparked by a Crystin Guy make in the paint. Guy and Carmen Taylor accounted for all of the BMC points in the stretch with the latter's layup at 5:34 left handing the Toppers a 54-53 lead. 

The pivotal sequence came when Grant got popped with an intentional foul call on a rebound attempt. Guy made the first of two free throws and Blue Mountain rebounded the miss to set up Carmen Taylor for a three. The four-point tripped cut the Faulkner lead down to two. When Taylor handed BMC the advantage with 5:34 left, Faulkner got back to work on the offensive end. 
Nequoia Adams made a free throw to tie the game with 5:13 to play before Channing Gafford assisted on an Ashlyn Adkins three at the 4:52 mark to put Faulkner on top for good. Adkins followed with a layup ahead of a Holland jumper to round out an 8-0 Faulkner run.

Carmen Taylor's layup with 1:48 to play cut the deficit to five and appeared to give Blue Mountain one more shot at it. Gafford stuck a dagger clean through that hope moments later with a three that all but sealed the game. 

Faulkner shot 38.7 percent from the floor as a team while holding Blue Mountain to 26.4 percent. The Eagles knocked down nine threes at a 33.3 percent clip while the Toppers hit six shots from deep at a 20 percent rate. 

Adkins finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Grant had 13 points and 10 rebounds for her 23rd career double-double. Micala Fisanick scored 13 points while Morgan Holland had 12 to go along with seven rebounds. Gafford contributed nine points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal in the effort. 

Faulkner (10-10, 3-5 SSAC) returns home Saturday to host Stillman at noon.