MILLIGAN, Tenn. – Faulkner led by as many as 13 in the second half before Milligan made a run that left the Lady Eagles playing catch-up late. The buzzer sounded on Sunday's season-opener with Faulkner trailing 74-71 and suffering its first setback of the 2023-24 campaign.
"All credit goes to Milligan. They have a really nice offensive team. They are willing passers and hard to defend," Faulkner Head Coach
Reed Sutton said.
Ruthie Smith connected on a layup for the first bucket of the second half, pushing the Faulkner advantage to 43-30. From there, the Buffs went on a 20-7 run to tie the game at 50. A
Dee Guinn jumper with 1:09 left in the third put the Lady Eagles up 52-50. The fourth quarter opened with a 13-4 Buffs run that left the home team up 63-56 with 6:19 to play.
After a Lauren Longmire layup at the 4:59 mark, the Lady Eagles started to get off the deck with a
Morgan Holland three-pointer just 15 seconds later. Madi Runnels followed with a layup before Holland cashed in a free throw and another layup. Halie Padgett's and-one make with 2:12 remaining left Milligan up 70-64.
Holland answered again for Faulkner with a layup at the 2:01 mark. A
Ruthie Smith free throw and another by
Kinlee Varnell cut it to 70-68 with 33 seconds left. Holland grabbed the offensive rebound off Varnell's miss and gave her team a chance to play for the win. A missed three ended up in the hands of Longmire with 24 seconds left. Longmire made two free throws to more the advantage to 72-68.
Neely Johnson drained a three with 10 seconds on the clock to narrow it to 72-71 before Jaycie Jenkins hit a pair of free throws to cap the scoring.
Faulkner shot just 42.9 percent from the free throw line in the game, missing 12 opportunities at the stripe. The Lady Eagles made 40.9 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent from three. Milligan won the rebounding battle 46-37, helping them win the game despite losing the turnover margin 14-6.
Five players scored in double figures for Milligan while Holland topped Faulkner with 27 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter. Smith finished with 14 points in her collegiate debut. Johns had 12 points and seven boards while Varnell grabbed 10 rebounds. Guinn contributed eight points in the effort.
"Obviously, the free throw line hurt us today, but I was happy we were getting there regularly on the road. We just have to convert. I thought Morgan had an awesome day and worked very well in combination with Ruthie," Sutton said. "Ruthie had a good first game. She took herself off the floor in the first half with a couple of silly fouls. She went to work after that. I was really happy with Dee's play today. She played in a good rhythm and earned trust on the floor. Our kids played hard. We can either be wounded or wise, and I believe this team will extract the wisdom out of this game that we need."
Faulkner (0-1) holds its home opener Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. when it hosts Pensacola Christian for Elementary Day.
