MOBILE, Ala. – Faulkner rolled into Mobile Saturday as the No. 4 team in the SSAC standings and boarded the bus as the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. The Lady Eagles handled their part with an 80-55 romp over the Mobile Rams, securing their first 20-win season since 2022-23 and the first of
Jacob Roark's head coaching career.
Faulkner never trailed on the afternoon as it worked its way through a slow start offensively. The Lady Eagles scored just 12 points in the first quarter and shot a paltry 33.3 percent from the floor. But the defensive effort scarcely wavered. Faulkner held Mobile to just 18.2 percent from the floor in the game's opening period and limited their opponent to just nine points in the first 10 minutes.
Things did not get much better for the Rams from there. Faulkner limited them to just 23.5 percent from the floor in the second quarter and 18.8 in the third. The Lady Eagles carried a 32-23 lead into the locker room at halftime before erupting for a 25-point third quarter that put the game away.
After Mobile scored the opening bucket of the third quarter on a Cierra Highland layup to narrow the deficit to seven, Faulkner answered with a dominating 14-3 run. A pair of
Keyarra Scottland free throws preceded an
Ella Jane Connell layup. After Highland answered with a three, Connell knocked down a triple of her own.
Brett Douglas followed with a layup before Connell scored the next five points.
Luisa Monsalve briefly interrupted the spurt with a free throw, but
Avery Rogers turned a
Sydney Steward dime into a three to get the lead to 20. Steward and Douglas then traded layups. A pair of
Grace Anne Rose free throws and another Steward layup saw Faulkner up 57-32 after three quarters of play.
The Lady Eagles opened the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run with Scottland and
Ruthie Smith combining for the scoring in that stretch. Faulkner got the lead to as many as 32 with 6:33 remaining in the game.
The Lady Eagles shot 50 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. They won the rebounding battle 31-24 while taking points in the paint 34-8. The Lady Eagle defense held Mobile to just 27.6 percent shooting from the field. Scottland paced Faulkner with 19 points while Connell added 14. Steward finished with 10.
After Faulkner handled its business, it looked to the SSAC scoreboard to get the help it needed to move out fourth place. Loyola defeated Tennessee Southern and Blue Mountain Christian knocked off William Carey to catapult the Lady Eagles up to the No. 2 seed in the tournament, which begins Wednesday at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex in downtown Montgomery.
Faulkner (20-7, 13-4 SSAC) will play Thursday at 12:30 p.m. against the winner of Wednesday's matchup of No. 7 seed Thomas and No. 10 seed Abraham Baldwin.
