MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A three point halftime lead wasn't enough as a tenacious fight from the Lady Eagles fell shy after an explosive third quarter from the No. 9 Wolf Pack set the tone for a 76-63 loss Monday night in Tine Davis Gymnasium in SSAC action.

The Lady Eagles extended their lead to 35-28 with the first two buckets of the second half, but the Wolf Pack poured in 14 unanswered in a 2:43 stretch to flip the script. With 6:32 to play, Faulkner cut the deficit to 60-56 with a Neely Johns three, but Loyola embarked on an 8-0 run with six points from Sandra Cannady put the top-10 side comfortably in the lead for the rest of the game. 

"I was proud of our effort today against one of the top teams in the country," head coach Reed Sutton said. "I thought we were well prepared and executed well for most of the game. We just had a couple stretches where we made mistakes and lost our composure and they make you pay. However, that is as good as we have played in a while in all phases. Loyola is a great team with a great coach. They are relentless. This may be the best Loyola team I have seen since I have been at Faulkner, but we kept fighting back, kept competing, and made progress as a team tonight."

Faulkner outscored the Wolf Pack 36-24 in the paint and 29-22 off turnovers. The two team's starters carried the yeoman's work with the benches combining for just 13 points. 

Kinlee Varnell and Nequoia Adams each dropped 16 points to pace the offensive output. Morgan Holland added 13 and eight rebounds. Varnell added five steals. 

The Lady Eagles fall to 10-4 overall and 3-2 in SSAC play and travels to face Mobile (7-9, 3-3 SSAC) Saturday at noon.
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