MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner lost a key player due to injury early in the game and battled through a game challenge from Blue Mountain Christian Saturday for a 71-58 win. The Lady Eagles found themselves tied with the Toppers at half and were reeling out of the locker room as BMC opened with a 7-0 run. After a timeout, Faulkner righted the ship, taking a three-point lead with 2:38 left in the period when
Morgan Holland turned a
Dee Guinn pass into a three-pointer for the 48-45 advantage.
The teams volleyed the lead in the fourth quarter with
Ruthie Smith helping give the Lady Eagles the final advantage at the 5:19 mark when she passed over the top to Holland, who finished off the sequence with a make for the 55-54 advantage. Smith repeated the feat with 4:51 to go to move it to 57-54. Guinn made two free throws to make it a two-possession game with 4:14 to play before
Neely Johns threw the dagger at the 3:46 mark with a three off a Holland assist to complete a 9-0 run and put Faulkner up eight.
BMC briefly pulled to within six but the Lady Eagles knocked down nine free throws the rest of the way to ice the win.
Faulkner made 37.9 percent of its shots from the floor and held BMC to 40.4 percent. The Lady Eagles won the rebound battle 44-32 and took the bulk of the ancillary scoring categories. Faulkner won points in the paint 30-24, second chance points 15-4, and points off turnovers 21-12.
Holland finished her day with 19 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists.
Kinlee Varnell had 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Following the game, Faulkner honored seniors Holland, Varnell,
Olivia Chadwell,
Evaiah Burrows,
McKayla Barber and manager Lauren Allen.
Including Allen's two years as a varsity player, that group has contributed 3,132 points, 1,698 rebounds and 519 assists at Faulkner. Factoring in the experiences of Chadwell and Varnell at other NAIA schools prior to their transfer to Faulkner, the set of seniors accounts for 5,035 points, 2,768 rebounds and 852 assists in their collective collegiate careers.
Faulkner (14-11, 10-5 SSAC) wraps the regular season away from Tine Davis Gymnasium with three consecutive road contests beginning with a Thursday tilt in Pulaski, Tenn. against Tennessee Southern.
