MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season to Cumberland University (2-0) at Tine Davis Gymnasium on Saturday. The Lady Eagles' defense buckled down after halftime but still fell short of the Phoenix 60-54.
"I thought in the second half we were really good defensively," Coach
Reed Sutton said. "We've just got to make a shot. At the end of the day, when you look at the stats, they're so even that it all comes down to who made shots and they made more than we did."
Faulkner's overall shooting percentage finished at 25.8%, while Cumberland ended the night with a percentage of 37.1. Specifically, from the three-point line, the Lady Eagles shot 20% while the Phoenix led the way with 53.3%. Cumberland also had 35 bench points while Faulkner trailed in that department with only seven. Although the turnovers were almost even, with the opponent having two more than the hosts, the former scored 14 points from turnovers whereas Faulkner only scored five.
The Lady Eagles cut the deficit to 45-40 with 7:01 to play when
Kinlee Varnell scored in the post. The Lady Eagles took the lead for points in the paint 24-14 with this score, but the Phoenix went on to tie up this margin in the final seven minutes. Cumberland regained an 11-point lead with 2:50 remaining in the game but Faulkner wasn't finished yet.
Morgan Holland cut the deficit to five once again when she sunk two free throws at the line. Faulkner trailed 59-54 with 26 seconds left on the clock. Cumberland scored their last bucket on a free throw, all but ending the game.
Nequoia Adams topped Faulkner in three categories with 16 points, three steals and three assists. Varnell followed behind with 15 points on the evening. Holland led the Lady Eagles in rebounds with 14 and tallied nine points as well.
"It was a defensive battle," Coach Sutton said. "It was good for our players. For our first tough physical battle, we needed some adversity. So now we're just going to see what our team is like and I think we're going to like what our team is like coming out of this. I liked how they responded after the game when we met with them."
The Lady Eagles have a break until they travel to Stillman College for their first conference game of the season on November 15.
"Our focus will be resting up, recovering, and really preparing. I love having this much time to prepare for Stillman and Talladega," Coach Sutton said. "Because we feel like when we have a lot of time to prepare for somebody, we'll have a great plan."
