AUM trio sinks Faulkner 88-68 in crosstown SSAC battle

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner head women’s basketball coach Reed Sutton knew that if his Lady Eagles were going to scratch out a road win at Auburn Montgomery, they would have to stop one of the three Warhawk offensive weapons, just as they did two weeks ago in a 59-45 Faulkner victory. Saturday afternoon in front of a boisterous crowd at the Physical Education Complex proved to be a different story, however, as the trio of Kaylan Withrow, Reggotta King and Jatoria Carter combined for 71 points as AUM sprinted away by the count of 88-68 in a crosstown Southern States Athletic Conference showdown.

In the first meeting Craig was held scoreless, but finished with 22 in the Warhawks’ avenging win. Withrow led the way with 28 and Carter added 21 as AUM broke open a close game in the second half to improve its record to 19-7 overall and 10-4 in the conference. Faulkner fell to 11-13 overall and 7-7 in the league, having lost its second straight SSAC game.

“They were better than us today; you have to give them credit,” Sutton said. “We knew what we had to do defensively against those three, and we just didn’t get it done today. We also knew we needed to take care of the basketball against their zone, and we turned it over way too much to have a chance to win.”

Leading by only five points at the half, the Warhawks exploded in the third quarter, scoring the last 11 points to take a 15-point lead to the final 10 minutes. The closest Faulkner got the rest of the way was 12 points and the final margin of 20 was the game’s biggest. Faith LeGate again paced the Lady Eagles’ effort with 20 points, while China Leary added 15. Faulkner, which outrebounded AUM 42-38, got 10 boards from Olivia Adamson and nine from Brandy Alley. The second-half turn came mainly as a result of putting the ball in the basket, with the Warhawks hitting 55 percent of their shots in the final two quarters while the Lady Eagles could convert on only 36 percent.

The first half was filled with runs for both teams. After Savana Flack’s jumper gave the Lady Eagles a 12-10 lead, then Carter sparked a 12-2 stretch that handed the hosts an eight-point advantage. LeGate led a Faulkner comeback, scoring three baskets as the Lady Eagles regained control. Her basket put Sutton’s team on top 31-26, only to have AUM finish the half by outscoring the Lady Eagles 14-4 to take a 40-35 advantage to the locker room at halftime.

The Lady Eagles travel to Gainesville, Ga., Thursday afternoon to battle SSAC foe Brenau. The game tips off at 4:30 central time.