BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – A late charge vaulted Faulkner into a brief lead Saturday before an endgame scenario resulted in a 65-62 loss to Blue Mountain Christian. The Lady Eagles trailed 52-37 with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter before a 20-3 run over the next 10 minutes of game time gave them an opportunity to win the game.
Ruthie Smith started the run on a jumper with 1:08 left in the third. She added a free throw before
Keyarra Scottland knocked down a pair of layups in the closing seconds of the frame.
Faulkner opened the fourth on a 13-1 run with six of those points coming off the hand of Smith.
Ashlyn Plott drained a three while
Sydney Steward and
Bridget Johnson each made a layup during the march. Johnson's layup at the 5:46 mark of the fourth pulled Faulkner to within one point. Smith cashed in a layup with 5:03 left to put the Lady Eagles up before adding a free throw with 4:27 to go to make it 57-55 in favor of Faulkner.
Rebecca Walter tied the game for BMC ahead of a pair of Crystin Guy free throws that put the Toppers back in the lead. Johnson pulled things even for the Lady Eagles with two free throws at the 1:58 mark before Guy drained a three to send BMC back on top.
Smith converted a layup with 58 seconds remaining to leave her team down 63-61. On the ensuing Faulkner possession, Smith went made a free throw to make it 63-62. After Mackenzie Williams made two from the charity stripe with four seconds left, Faulkner got one more look at a potential game-tying shot. The three-point attempt missed as the buzzer sounded, dropping Faulkner to 0-2 in SSAC play.
Blue Mountain outrebounded Faulkner 43-36 in the game including 15 offensive boards that helped it take the second chance points category 13-10. Faulkner shot 37.3 percent from the floor while BMC made 34.8 percent of its looks from the field.
Smith paced Faulkner with 22 points and seven rebounds to go along with three blocked shots. Scottland had 14 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Faulkner (2-3, 0-2 SSAC) hosts Middle Georgia State Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m.
