Box Score
JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven women's basketball team clinched its second consecutive Southern States Athletic Conference West Division title on Saturday night, defeating Faulkner University 83-79 in Rugg Arena. The Blazers, ranked 16th in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, will also be heading back to the NAIA National Tournament for the second straight season thanks to an automatic bid granted for the West Division title.

Faulkner's Christina Hayes opened the game on a layup giving the Eagles a two point advantage 25 seconds into the contest. Senior guard Kiara Johnson answered less than a minute later with a pair of jump shots sending Belhaven in front for the first time in the game at 4-2. The lead went back and fourth until the 9:15 mark of the first half, when Brittney Carter gave Faulkner University a two point edge at 20-18. The opening 20 minutes of the game witnessed eight ties and five lead changes.

The Eagles enjoyed their largest lead of six points at 33-27 with 3:15 minutes left to go in the first half. Belhaven then got the offense rolling and outscored Faulkner 9-2, which established a 36-35 Blazer lead at the break. Junior guard Sarah Carr got the run going by drilling one of her six triples to answer the Carter basket. With 30 seconds left in the first half, Johnson dialed in a triple of her own for the go ahead points.

In the beginning of the second half, the Blazers' offense came out hot engineering a 20-7 run within the first eight minutes of the half, building a 56-42 advantage. The Eagles battled back to regain the lead at 75-74 on a conventional three point play by Christina Hayes with 1:48 to go. Belhaven senior guard Regena Jackson answered with a pair of free throws only to see Faulkner pull back ahead 77-76 on a layup by Spencer Cantrell.

Jackson then stepped back to the charity stripe again, sinking two more free throws that put Belhaven in front for good at 78-77 with one minute to play. Belhaven's defense then forced a turnover by Nyla Johnson and another miscue by Brittney Carter that led to three more Belhaven free throws boosting the Blazers edge to 81-77 with 32 seconds left. Jackson ended up converting eight free throws in the final 1:33 to help seal the win.

Belhaven (22-6, 15-2 SSAC) was led by Jackson with a game high 30 points and eight assists. Jackson, who reached 1,000 career points on Thursday night at Loyola, scored 19 out of her 30 points on free throws. Following Jackson for the Blazers was Carr with a season high 22 points. Carr was red hot from three point land where she drilled 6 of her 10 triple tries. Senior Jessica Barlow tallied 10 points and six rebounds while Portia Tucker contributed four points and seven rebounds off the bench. The Blazers shot 50% from three point range (8-16) and converted 73% of their free throws (27-37) which proved to be a big factor in the win.

Faulkner (18-9, 9-7 SSAC) was led by Christina Hayes with 20 points while Leticia Cuellar turned in 13 points off the bench. Carter chipped in 17 points and a game high 12 rebounds for the double double. The Eagles shot 53.4% from the field (31-58) and 64.7% from the free throw line (11-17).

The Blazers will be back in action on the road Thursday night for the last regular season contest against Spring Hill College, starting at 5:30 PM.