MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner stretched its win streak to five games Tuesday afternoon as it gritted out a 70-64 victory over Tennessee Southern. The Lady Eagles took control of the game when they took over the paint, deviating from an early-game approach that saw them launch 11 threes in the first quarter and four more early in the second.
"We are happy with the win today. UT-Southern is always an aggressive team and Billy Evans is a great coach and always finds ways to get his team to be disruptive defensively. I thought rebounding was the difference today," Faulkner Head Coach
Reed Sutton said. "We held them under 40 percent shooting and rebounded those missed shots. We also did a great job on the offensive glass and stayed aggressive when we missed shots."
Faulkner ended the night with 53 rebounds as compared to 37 for the Firehawks and outpaced the flame birds 32-28 in the paint. Highlighting that effort was a career game for
Ruthie Smith that saw the freshman put up personal highs in points and rebounds with a 25 and 14 performance.
Morgan Holland added 16 points and 15 boards to go along with three steals and two assists.
Despite the statistical control, Faulkner still found itself in a fight until the closing seconds. A Smith three with 81 seconds left move the advantage to 10 and appeared to serve as a dagger. Still, UT Southern failed to acknowledge that memo even after
Kinlee Varnell's free throw with 58 seconds left made it an 11-point lead.
Maggie Hale's jumper and two threes from Takiyah Goff narrowed it all the way to 68-64 with four seconds to play.
Dee Guinn had to step to the line with 1.6 left to ice things with a pair of free throws, ending her night with 10 points.
"Ruthie had her best game in her young career. She stood out on both ends of the floor. She scored and shot it well. Her confidence is growing. She is improving on the defensive end and had no turnovers," Sutton said. "Morgan was a beast on the offensive glass and had a double-double. I also feel that Dee is starting to feel more comfortable in her role and played great the last couple of games for us."
The win was the first against the program from Pulaski, Tenn. since March 2, 2017, snapping an eight-game losing streak against the former Martin Methodist RedHawks.
Faulkner (8-8, 4-3 SSAC) stretches its win streak to five games with the victory. The Lady Eagles host No. 3 Campbellsville Saturday at noon.
