MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The road to Sioux City for Faulkner Women's Basketball in Year Two of the Jacob Roark era has been announced.
The season opens with the annual Jimmy Faulkner Classic, where the Lady Eagles take on two first-time opponents in Montreat (N.C.) and Ave Maria (Fla.) on Friday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 25, respectively, at 5 pm. At 1 pm on those days, SSAC foe William Carey will take on the Cavaliers and Gyrenes in opposite order of the Eagles.
The next weekend, Faulkner will travel to the Sunshine State for a couple early matchups and its fourth all-time meetings with two more Sun Conference opponents. On Friday, Oct. 31 at 11 am, the Lady Eagles are in Babson Park to take on Webber International for the first time since the 2012 Jimmy Faulkner Classic. The next day at 9 am, the team heads to Lakeland to duel with Southeastern on Saturday, November 1, for the first time since the 2023 SSAC-Sun Challenge. The Lady Eagles will look to stay unbeaten against the Warriors and earn their first win over the Fire since the last time the teams met at The Furnace in 2010, the inaugural season for the Faulkner program.
Faulkner returns home the next week for a Thursday evening battle of Eagles with Reinhardt before traveling to Alexandria, La., the next week as the Lady Eagles take on LSUA for the first time on Friday, Nov. 14, at noon. The Generals beat then-No. 13 Loyola in their season opener and finished second in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Tournament in 2024-25.
On its way back into town, Faulkner will stop at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome across town for an exhibition that Sunday afternoon at NCAA DI Alabama State, the second straight season the Lady Eagles will take on the Lady Hornets. Faulkner will hope for better luck than last season as it suffered a setback and lost graduate wing Morgan Holland DeWitt to injury for the year, allowing her to retain a redshirt and return for her "super senior" season in 2025-26.
SSAC play commences on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 5:30 and Saturday, Nov. 22, at noon at Tine Davis against Blue Mountain Christian and Tennessee Southern, respectively. The next Tuesday, Faulkner travels to McKenzie, Tenn., for the first leg of a home-and-home with former SSAC rival Bethel, the first time it has played the Wildcats since the 2023 Faulkner Classic and its first trip to Bethel since SSAC play in January 2019. That is the Lady Eagles' last game before their break for Thanksgiving, as they resume play on December 6 in an always-tough rivalry contest at home versus Mobile, coached by Sydney Westry.
On the next Thursday, Faulkner heads northeast to Tuscaloosa to take on another former SSAC foe in Stillman, as the Tigers enter their first season under Jamarra Robinson after the departure of Alico Dunk for DII Virginia Union. Two days later, the Lady Eagles make the return trip to Pulaski to take on UTS. Tuesday, Dec. 16, marks the last game before Christmas as Bethel makes the return trip to Tine Davis.
The Lady Eagles are right back at it on New Year's Day of 2026 as they travel to Mississippi for the second leg of their series with a BMCU program still riding the high of last season. The Lady Toppers went on a Cinderella run to claim the 2025 SSAC Tournament crown, knocking off a previously 25-0 William Carey squad in the process, and earn its first berth in the NAIA National Tournament.
A week after the BMCU game, Faulkner takes on WCU in Hattiesburg as the Lady Crusaders head into their first year under former associate head coach Jessica Garriga after the promotion of longtime head coach Tracy English to athletic director. Two days later, Faulkner has another huge challenge in New Orleans as it takes on Kellie Kennedy's Loyola Wolf Pack, winners of three of the previous four SSAC Tournament titles, the lone loss coming to Faulkner in the 2023 Championship game.
The Lady Eagles are back home for its next three games, starting on Thursday night, Jan. 15, against Brewton-Parker Christian before taking on Point on Saturday and Life, the only SSAC opponent Faulkner will not travel to, the Thursday after the BPCU game.
A week after taking on the Running Eagles, Faulkner makes its first-ever trip to Tifton, Ga., to take on ABAC before a Saturday matchup in Thomasville, looking to maintain the program's unbeaten marks against the Fillies and Night Hawks. Faulkner heads back to the Peach State the next week to start February with its second matchups with Steve Edwards's Lady Barons in Mount Vernon on Thursday and Alexis Tate's Skyhawks in West Point on Saturday.
The Lady Eagles are back in Tine Davis the next week as WCU and Loyola make the return trip to Montgomery on Feb. 12 and 14, respectively. The evening of Tuesday, Feb. 17, is Senior Day and Faulkner's last nonconference game of the regular season against Dillard before wrapping up the slate at Mobile that Saturday at noon.
The SSAC Championship is next from Feb. 25-28 in downtown Montgomery at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl before the NAIA First and Second Rounds at campus sites from March 13-14 and the National Championship Final Site from March 19-24 in Sioux City, Iowa.
