MONTGOMERY, Ala. – In a matchup of receiving votes squads that lived up to its billing, Faulkner could not put away pesky Philander Smith until the very end, yet never trailed in a 74-70 victory at Tine Davis Gymnasium on Saturday.

Faulkner held its largest lead of 12 points in the first and third quarters, but the Lady Panthers came right back on both occasions. The visitors used three triples to end the first period on an 11-2 run, while utilizing a 24-12 run, punctuated by a Myia Yelder three with 34 seconds left in the third, that tied the score for the first time since the 4:20 mark of the second. Evaiah Burrows's free throws gave her team a 50-48 advantage to begin the final quarter.

Just over a minute into the fourth, Giordian Johnson evened up the line again before Morgan Holland drained a three and Angela Grant sunk her shot in the paint. Philander Smith immediately eliminated that cushion with a Johnson three and had a chance to take its first lead of the day when Yelder stole it and got the layup through contact, but the free throw was no good. Holland got the rebound and Burrows scored on the other end, and the wing didn't stop there. After back-to-back missed threes by the Panthers, Holland found Grant down low, where the center finished off the play at the net, and secured another rebound and passed to Kinlee Varnell, who drove into the paint and got the layup.

"Before we went to trying to hold the ball a little bit, I thought we did a much better job in the fourth quarter of just looking inside," acting coach Jacob Roark said of his team's success in the paint. "We'd been trying to get them to do that the whole game, and something clicked in that fourth quarter. We went to the rim with everything. I think we don't win if that doesn't happen."

The six-point lead was then cut in half by a Yelder trey, and after two Burrows foul shots, Elaijha Brown's runner restored the three-point margin. Grant absorbed contact below the bucket and passed it back before stepping out of bounds, resulting in a steal and another Brown bucket. Grant evidently took a hit to her knee on the play, causing her to sub out and get checked out in the locker room before returning two minutes later.

Holland cashed in on a layup on the ensuing possession. Bridget Johnson, entering in Grant's place, then took a charge from Brown in the paint, resulting in the visitors' second-leading scorer receiving her fifth foul and an injury on the play. A technical was promptly called with Philander Smith's head coach arguing his case, and Holland sunk both free throws.

Yelder responded with another triple to narrow the score to 67-65 with 3:05 remaining in the game, but with the shot clock winding down on the other end, Nequoia Adams got the ball back with one second left after her pass was tipped and sunk the shot just in time to restore a cushion. Faulkner's Johnson absorbed another charge, and after checking back in, Grant collected the offensive rebound on the rushed attempt as the shot clock expired and laid it up to stake her team to a crucial six-point lead.

After a trade of points, Tyianna Robinson hit a three off the glass to make the score 72-70 with 38 seconds left. Disaster nearly struck for the Lady Eagles on the next possession when Giordian Johnson stole Varnell's pass, but Holland defended the basket and Adams secured the rebound. Philander Smith nearly stole it again as Faulkner attempted to drain the clock around the full-court press, but Varnell secured the ball, was fouled with six seconds left and made both shots to secure the win.

The Lady Eagles hit 46.8% of their shots, while attempting only 12 long balls to 33 attempts by the Lady Bobcats, and held the latter to a 39.3% mark from the field. The winning matchup came via a 32-24 advantage in points in the paint. Faulkner also won the rebounding battle 42-23 and had 10 second-chance points to the visitors' four. Faulkner committed 21 turnovers to Philander Smith's 14 and lost the points off turnovers category 25-10, but had 17 fouls to the Lady Bobcats' 34. Philander Smith saw three players foul out.

"I just think our team has responded well to any adversity all year and they did it again today," Roark said. "They kind of punched us in the mouth and we just answered. We compete, and I think we can take that away. We can not have a great shooting day and turn the ball over, and still compete and win. So that's something to be proud of."

All five Lady Eagle starters finished in double figures. Adams led the team with 15 points and four rebounds. Holland and Burrows each tallied 13, with eight and five rebounds, respectively. With 13 points and 10 boards, Grant registered her 32nd career double-double. Varnell added 11 points. Yelder led Philander Smith with 26 points, and Brown was next in line with 16.

Faulkner ups its record to 11-1, while handing 8-1 Philander Smith its first loss of the season. The Lady Eagles reenter conference play next week with a December 15 trip to Marietta, Ga., to face new SSAC member Life.