PULASKI, Tenn. - Faulkner (9-3, 7-1 SSAC) fell behind early against a hot-shooting UT Southern squad (7-4, 2-3 SSAC) and dug itself into a 23-point halftime deficit in a 71-58 setback at the Curry Athletic Complex for Faulkner's first conference loss of the season. A furious comeback would bring the Lady Eagles within five with 1:49 left to play before the Firehawks stopped the bleeding with a Ramie Reid layup on the next possession and closed it out with foul shots.
Audrey Blaine opened the second quarter with a triple to pull her team within an 18-13 margin before the Lady Eagles suffered a scoring drought that lasted almost five minutes that the hosts parlayed into a 14-0 run. Trailing by 20 at 35-15, Faulkner got back some momentum with a layup by Ruthie Smith and a three by Ella Jane Connell before Lauren Smith of UTS responded with a layup and trey of her own.
Faulkner first got back into the game in the third quarter with a 12-0 run, eight of those points and the last six of them coming from Smith. UTS's Smith then made two buckets to close the period with another 5-0 span and restore a 20-point lead.
In the fourth, Morgan Holland DeWitt and Sydney Steward hit threes, and Ruthie Smith grabbed the offensive board and putback off a missed three by Steward for an 8-0 Faulkner run that got the visitors within 13 with 5:17 left. With 3:19 on the clock, Steward broke up a back-and-forth stretch with a jumper that started a crucial 8-0 run for the Lady Eagles. Three Firehawk turnovers led to Faulkner buckets. Keyarra Scottland scored a fastbreak layup off a Reid turnover. DeWitt then stole the ball from Ashley Dickey and Lauren Smith on consecutive possessions, leading to layups by Ruthie Smith and herself to put Faulkner in striking distance at 63-58. However, the deficit wasn't enough to overcome.
UTS outshot Faulkner 48.9% to 35.1% from the field, 42.9% to 25% from three and 90.5% to 73.3% on free throws. Most impressively, all the hosts' points came from the five starters while 20 Faulkner points came from the bench. Lauren Smith racked up 24 points on an eye-popping nine-of-10 mark from the field, including four-of-four from three. Dickey scored 19, and she and Smith each put up six rebounds and two steals. Reid registered 13 points, eight boards and three blocks, and Silkiari Vazquez-Troche put up 10 points, 10 assists and three steals.
Ruthie Smith led the team with 14 points and nine rebounds. Steward poured in 11 off the bench. DeWitt put up eight points, four steals and three boards. Scottland added seven points and two steals, and Avery Rogers had five points and three steals. Brett Douglas had four apiece of points, boards and assists to go with two blocks and a steal.
Faulkner is back at Tine Davis on Tuesday, the 16th, at 2 pm as No. 2 Bethel makes the return trip to Montgomery.
