MONTGOMERY, Ala. – After a first half replete with missed opportunities that ended in a frustrating 31-31 tie, it seemed that Faulkner and Brewton-Parker were headed for another down-to-the-wire slugfest.

But these Lady Eagles weren't going down that road again.

They utilized a 23-8 third quarter combined with a completely dialed-in defense to claim a vindicating 75-53 victory in Tine Davis Gymnasium on Monday night. This was their first win over the visitors in seven tries and second in nine in a rivalry that has been decided by single digits in each of those meetings. That describes every time the latter has come out on top, as their largest winning margin was only by eight. Before that, Faulkner had won the first eight meetings of the matchup's history.

Despite a relatively lacking shooting performance against the Lady Barons' aggressive press coverage, five players hit double digits in either points or rebounds. Faulkner led in every category except turnovers, offensive rebounds and free throw percentage. Points in the paint was won 38-28, points off turnovers 17-9, second chance points 16-8 and bench points 24-17. The home squad shot 46.7% and 26.7% from long-range. If not for turnovers and misses at the charity stripe, Faulkner might have led going into the locker room, and it was miscues like those that would have allowed the Lady Barons to seize momentum and the advantage in the last two seasons. However, this second half was going to be painted blue and white, not blue and orange.

Angela Grant took another huge step in her storied return from serious injuries, and four of her team-best five offensive rebounds appropriately came in a storied second half. She led the team with 16 points, ten total boards, two blocks and two steals, and she parlayed her first three boards off Faulkner misses into buckets. Ashlyn Adkins, fresh off hitting 1,800 career points last week against William Carey on Play4Kay Night, was not far behind with 15 points, five boards and five assists.

These two had a little help from their friends, as Morgan Holland tallied eight points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, in what could have been a triple-double with a few more minutes. Micala Fisanick claimed four of the ball-hawking defense's nine steals, all in the second half and each one leading at least indirectly to Eagle buckets or free throws. Channing Gafford hit two crucial threes in the second quarter. Off the bench, Evaiah Burrows was the third Lady Eagle to hit double digits with 11, including another key triple off her steal to open the second quarter, and she and Jacie Andrews were perfect at the free throw line on a night when makes at that location were harder to come by. Olivia Colson added six rebounds in just 10 total minutes, and Rachel Hager two steals. Adkins, Fisanick, Burrows and Hager each blocked a shot.   

The defense cracked down in a huge way, holding the visitors to a 27% shooting night on 74 shots and 9.1% from long-range, or 3 makes in 33 attempts and a 0-for-17 mark in the second half. The latter mark was especially sweet for this Lady Eagle squad, because despite the history of low-percentage games between these two, the Barons always made their shots at Faulkner when it mattered in this maddening skid. With a minute left in the third quarter, the road team had registered just one field goal after halftime. The performance was tied for the defense's second best this season on three-ball percentage, tied with Thomas's 2-for-22 mark last November, but it understandably failed to match William Carey's 0-for-10 mark on January 3.

Alexia Galloway was the Lady Barons' leading scorer with 12 points on five buckets. Angel McRae claimed 10 points and 14 rebounds, and Keonya Mincey was responsible for two of her team's threes made from beyond the arc, but only eight points in all. Madison Evans, just recognized on this day as last week's SSAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week, scored just six. And then there was Sy-Marieona Williams, a bench player who was notorious for being a thorn in Faulkner's side, who hit double digits in each of her last five games against this team. That included a sensational 30-point outing around this time last year in which she hit the winning buzzer-beater to spoil Senior Day and gave her team an unprecedented 4-0 season sweep of the Lady Eagles. Tonight, she was held scoreless in just five minutes.

As the teams reconvened for the third period, the Lady Baron offense was switched off just as Grant was turning on. Her bucket from Adkins's dime off the pick-and-roll opened the second half scoring and gave her team the lead for good. After the former blocked the second of five consecutive opposing shots, thanks to four offensive boards, and finally came down with the rebound, the teams traded missed threes and made buckets, claimed by Fisanick and Galloway. It would be seven minutes before another Baron field goal attempt found the bottom of the net.

Grant came up with the next two scores off the glass, the first by following Galloway's basket and an Adkins miss with a finish at the rim, and the second by cleaning up her own misfire after a Fisanick theft. Just shy of a minute later, Adkins continued the run with a three off her own inbound. Fisanick then cashed in two layups of her own; the second was on a possession started by a Hager steal, and the former gathered the board off an Adkins miss and drove through the contact for the layup. Thanks to this play, the Lady Eagles had their largest lead yet of 50-37 with five minutes left in the quarter. The next 3:09 saw one combined point, but the streak was broken by another second chance score, a miss tipped by Gafford to Colson that ultimately resulted in another Adkins triple. With 44 seconds on the clock, Holland extended the lead to 15 points on a turnaround jumper in the lane immediately off the inbound. When the Barons finally got a shot to fall with a three-point play, it made no difference as Holland answered again by securing a pass and lobbing an assist to a streaking Colson for the fast break layup.

Unfortunately, Faulkner, now with an improved record of 13-11, cannot celebrate getting the Brewton-Parker monkey off their back for long. The team goes for a two-game road trip to Georgia later this week, which means facing the Barons again on Saturday, this time in Mount Vernon, after taking on Middle Georgia State in Cochran on Thursday. The Knights will then make the return trip to Montgomery four days later for a COVID-19 postponed matchup that will take the place of Faulkner's cancelled return trip to Oakwood.