MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner overcame two sluggish quarters of play and an erratic offense to clamp down on defense and put forth an outstanding fourth quarter to defeat Brewton-Parker 69-64 in the SSAC Women's Basketball Championship semifinals between the two and three seeds at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl on Friday night. The victory avenges its quarterfinal loss to the Lady Barons that ended its 2021-22 season and a lopsided January setback when the Lady Eagles were without
Morgan Holland and
Angela Grant. The hometown team now advances to the championship game and clinches the conference's second automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament, the program's first nationals berth since 2018.
In a game of runs, the Lady Eagles (24-6, 14-4 SSAC) won the rebounding battle 49-37 and were whistled for just nine fouls compared to 20 for the Lady Barons (22-7, 13-5 SSAC). Faulkner outshot Brewton-Parker from the field 40.4% to 32.5%, from three 30.4% to 27.3% and from the line 76.9% to 55.6%. The opponents from Mount Vernon, Ga., took advantage of 22 Faulkner turnovers and scored 17 points off them, with most of them occurring in the latter's best shooting quarters, but the Eagles scored 12 points off just nine Baron miscues.
With 4:50 on the clock in the first quarter, the Lady Eagles held a 10-4 lead, helped by a pair of triples from Holland and a
Nequoia Adams and-one off an
Evaiah Burrows steal. Brewton-Parker then exploded for a 14-2 run, including four threes from the trio of A'Aliyah Clay, Sy-Marieona Williams and Micah Bess, to end the quarter with an 18-12 advantage. At this point, the Barons had connected on 35% of their shots and held Faulkner to just 20%.
The Lady Eagles promptly flipped the script, making good on 45.45% of their attempts, holding the opponents to just 21.05% and scoring the first 11 points of the period. The run was backed by layups from
Kinlee Varnell and Grant and another Holland trey set up by a Grant block. The Barons responded with an 11-3 run that saw Williams register six more points along with a three from Samerria Bryant and a fastbreak layup off the steal by Angel McRae. Down 29-26 with under a minute to play,
Neely Johns made up for earlier misses by sinking a three to tie the score at halftime.
Brewton-Parker appeared set to eliminate Faulkner for the second straight year as the former had its best output of the game in the third quarter by making 47.37% from the field and held the latter to 36.84% and no makes from beyond the arc. Grant opened the scoring, but the Barons scored the next nine points to extend their lead to 38-31, including seven from leading scorer Madison Evans.
Faulkner narrowed with an 8-3 span before the scoring went back and forth and Williams, who had frustrated the Lady Eagles in a number of contests, hit another three with 2:05 on the clock to put her team ahead 51-45. The scoring almost stopped there for the period, but Varnell made a key play with three seconds left to lay it in from the paint to put her team within four going into the final quarter.
The Lady Eagles had revenge firmly on their mind at this point, as Holland and Grant combined for six consecutive points after Brewton-Parker opened the scoring to tie things up at 53. After a Chardell Jones three-point play, Varnell tied it back by draining a triple before Adams took advantage of her own and-one to put Faulkner ahead for the first time since the 9:30 mark of the third. A trade of scores set up Jones for another and-one to tie it at 61, but after trading steals, Holland tallied her fourth three of the contest to put her team in the lead for good 64-61 with 3:53 left. At the 3:09 mark, the Faulkner faithful rose up and clay missed both ends of a trip to the line, which was crucial as Cisley Copper could only get her team within one on her team's next possession.
After Adams turned it over, she blocked a three-ball from Williams to set up another miss, which Johns took advantage of with her second trey of the game that granted her team a 67-63 lead. More tense moments ensued, as a one-for-two trip to the stripe got the Barons within one score again and Varnell committed a five-second violation with 49 seconds left facing the press before reaching the timeline. Williams missed the three before she also could not connect on her final triple attempt with six seconds remaining. Grant, the redshirt senior who decided to come back for her COVID year this season after being sent home early by this same squad at this point last year, made the final play as she got the rebound on Williams's miss and sunk a free throw to move her team one game away from a ring.
All told, Faulkner made six of its seven field goals in the quarter and all three of its triples for an 85.71% performance while holding Brewton-Parker to just 26.32% and scoreless from distance. Holland anchored her squad, racking up 25 points and 11 rebounds. Grant tallied 14 points, 10 boards and a pair of first-half blocks, good for her 42nd career double-double. Adams scored 10 points and seven rebounds. Varnell scored nine with six boards, as she, Holland and
Evaiah Burrows each made three assists. Burrows also came away with two steals.
The Lady Eagles now gear up to take on top seed Loyola, the only conference opponent Faulkner has yet to defeat or avenge a loss to. The Wolf Pack are 27-1, with their only loss coming in an upset at Brewton-Parker, and they will be going for the conference championship sweep for the third straight season. This is the challenge the Lady Eagles face as they play for their first SSAC tournament title in program history on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Multiplex.
