MONTGOMERY, Ala. – It took Faulkner's defense a little while to find it rhythm, but the Lady Eagles ultimately clamped down enough for an 81-64 victory over Dillard Tuesday night. Faulkner got off to a bit of a shaky start in the final home game of the season. Despite dropping 23 points in the first quarter, the Lady Eagles allowed the Bleu Devils to shoot 58.8 percent from the field in the frame and carry a 25-23 lead into the second.
The teams boasted nearly identical offensive struggles in the second, with each shooting 33.3 percent from the field while missing every shot from beyond the arc. Dillard made one more free throw than Faulkner in the quarter and carried a 37-34 lead to the locker room.
Ruthie Smith converted a layup off a
Morgan Holland DeWitt assist to open the second half and later and added a three off an
Ella Jane Connell dime 26 seconds later to tie the game.
Keyarra Scottland knocked down a layup to give Faulkner a narrow, albeit brief, lead.
After D'Mya Ferguson tied the game for the Bleu Devils, Faulkner got a quick 6-0 spurt from DeWitt, Smith and Scottland to go up 47-41. The teams traded buckets for the next seven minutes, sending the game to the fourth quarter with the Lady Eagles up 54-51.
That's when the short-handed Bleu Devils, who played the entire game with only five available players, appeared to run out of gas. Faulkner capitalized by delivering the knockout blow in the first five minutes of the final quarter. Connell turned an
Avery Rogers pass into a layup. Scottland followed with a dish to Rogers for another make before DeWitt knocked down a layup. A Davielis Berroa three briefly interrupted the spurt before Connell answered with one of her own and then another. By the 5:06 mark of the fourth, the Lady Eagles had put together a 17-3 run to open the frame, stretching their advantage to 71-54.
Faulkner took the rebounding battles 37-31 while shooting 50.7 percent from the field. The Lady Eagles dominated points in the paint 56-24 and won points off turnovers 26-14. Faulkner also amassed 21 assists on 34 made baskets. The Lady Eagles' 18 steals on the night marked the fourth most in a single game in program history and the most since a 19-steal performance in 2012.
Scottland paced the Lady Eagles with 20 points and a career-high nine assists. DeWitt added 13 points while Rogers had 12 and Connell finished with 11.
Faulkner (19-7, 12-4 SSAC) caps the regular season Saturday when it travels to Mobile for a noon tip.
