MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A storybook season came to a tough end at Tine Davis Gymnasium in the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship First Round, as 11-seed Faulkner (21-9, 13-4 SSAC) fell in overtime 87-81 to 6-seed Southeastern (28-3, 15-1 Sun) on Friday. The Lady Eagles were hosting a First and Second Round for the first time in program history and taking on an opponent they narrowly fell to on the road in Lakeland, Fla., in November.
Faulkner jumped out to a 6-0 lead two minutes in on three layups, two by Ruthie Smith and one by Ella Jane Connell, thanks to two SEU turnovers before the Fire began chipping away and ended the first quarter tied. Audrey Blaine started off the second quarter with a layup to get Faulkner the lead back before Sarah Davis hit a pair of treys to swing the lead back to the Fire ahead of another three from Mya Herman and a layup from Grace Field. Blaine responded to the Davis threes with a layup and Herman's triple with one of her own, while Morgan Holland DeWitt answered Field's layup with a long-range make to get Faulkner within two. Davis would hit two more from distance before halftime with Sydney Steward and Grace Anne Rose making buckets in response, and after Herman connected on a jumper, Keyarra Scottland ended the half with a three-point play. SEU led 40-35 heading into the locker room.
The Fire lived up to their name beginning the second half as they opened with a 13-2 run that put them ahead 16 halfway through the third quarter. A Smith layup and an Avery Rogers three made up some ground before six of the next seven points went to SEU on two Eva Bishop layups and a third by Field. However, the last seven points of the period belonged to the Lady Eagles as Blaine hit another three, Brett Douglas cashed in on a Smith steal with a layup and Ella Jane Connell hit two free throws off a theft by Scottland.
The fans gathered in Tine Davis were then treated to an all-timer of a fourth quarter. Five of the first seven points of the span were by Smith to get her team within six. At the 5:06 mark, Herman hit another three. From there, in what would be her final college game, DeWitt took over with a steal that started a personal 8-0 scoring run on four straight possessions with two free throws and three layups, the last of them on a coast-to-coast trip and dime by Scottland to find her sixth-year wing wide open. Now within one, Faulkner held as Field missed both ends at the charity stripe and committed an offensive foul, her fifth total, ending her night with 34 seconds left in regulation.
With both teams using timeouts to advance plays past halfcourt, Scottland breezed past two defenders on her way to the rack on the ensuing possession and laid it in for the first Lady Eagle lead since the early stages of the second quarter. Herman then promptly took the lead back on a fadeaway jumper before tipping and stealing Connell's inbound pass. Connell chased her down and sent her to the free throw line, where Herman converted both looks. Trailing by three, Jacob Roark shuffled his lineup. Facing heavy pressure, Scottland dished to Connell, where the guard from Prattville, also in her final game as a Lady Eagle, made the biggest shot of her career. From the volleyball foul line for an NBA range look in front of the student section with a defender baring down, Connell drained the triple with nine ticks left to send this one to overtime.
Smith and DeWitt had the Eagle fans believing with triples on two of their first three possessions in the extra period, with the latter shot providing a 76-74 Faulkner lead with 2:42 remaining. However, the Lady Eagles simply ran out of gas against the high-octane SEU attack, as the 6-seed closed on a 13-5 run with buckets by Smith and Connell softening the blow. Eight of the Fire's 17 OT points came from Herman, who dazzled with a whopping 34 points on 11-of-19 shooting, a 6-of-10 mark from three and 6-for-6 on free throws. The next leading scorer was Davis with 14 points off the bench on a 4-of-6 day, all from three. Smith had her seventh double-double of the season with 20 points and 13 rebounds. DeWitt was next in line with 16, Connell added 12 and Blaine poured in 10 off the bench as a sign of the program's future.
The game marks the end of some decorated careers and second-to-none team and campus leadership in DeWitt, Connell and Shorter transfer Sarah Wisniowski. Morgan Holland DeWitt ends her career second in program history in scoring, total rebounds and defensive rebounds and third in assists. Connell has finished the season with a 45.5% mark from three, the best three-point shooting season in program history.
