Box Score
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Belhaven women's basketball felt the taste of defeat for the first time in five games on the road against No. 19 Faulkner. The Lady Eagles swept the season series over the Blazers with a 58-36 victory in the final game of the regular season for both squads.

Only a few weeks ago the Blazers and Lady Eagles met in Rugg Arena as teams heading in opposite directions. Belhaven was still trying to find some stability in the midst of a transition season for the program, while Faulkner was sky-high at the top of the SSAC West.

Since that game the Blazers have played inspired basketball and suddenly have the look of a team that could make a deep run in the SSAC tournament. Winners of four in a row, Belhaven (13-16, 10-8 SSAC) was hoping to catch lightning in a bottle one more time in the season finale and enter the tournament with five straight victories.

The upset bid looked good for the Blazers in the first half, leading the Lady Eagles by three points after 10 minutes of play. Sarah Carr and Antonekia Williams led the scoring early for the Blazers, scoring five a piece to keep their team in the lead.

Faulkner (25-5, 15-3 SSAC) regained the lead with five minutes to play in the half, 22-20, thanks to back-to-back three's made by their guards Christina Hayes and Spenser Cantrell.  Hayes burned the Blazers in the first meeting, scoring 18 points to lead the Lady Eagles to a 29-point win.

From that point on Belhaven would be outscored 7-2 and trail at the halftime break 29-22.

Ashley Wakefield hit a deep three-pointer to kick off the second half, but Belhaven would go on a seven-minute stretch without scoring a point following her made jumper. The scoring drought allowed the Lady Eagles to build their lead from four points to 12 points at 37-25.

Faulkner's Hayes and Brittney Carter, a two-time SSAC Player of the week, produced results on both ends of the floor. Carter completed her double-double in the second half, finishing with 16 points and 16 rebounds in the low post. Sonya Vuong also got into the scoring action for the Lady Eagles with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor.

The three players for Faulkner helped the Lady Eagles outscore Belhaven 29-14 in the second half for the runaway victory.

Wakefield and Carr each had seven points to lead the Blazers in scoring. Carr's point total put her over 1,000 career points and now enters the post season with 1,001. Belhaven found it tough to find shots over the top of an athletic frontcourt of Faulkner and only shot 25% from the floor in the game.

Erika Leflore and TaShayla Steede both finished with six rebounds, well below their normal numbers on the boards as they battled with Carter down low.

According to the SSAC standings, Belhaven will be matched up with No. 24 Southern Polytechnic in the first round of the SSAC tournament. The Blazers and Hornets met only once this season, back on November 16, where Southern Poly took home a 51-37 victory.

The Hornets rank as one of the best defensive teams in the country and have kept a majority of their opponents under 55 points this season.

Belhaven will be hoping for revenge when the tournament kicks off on Thursday evening in Montgomery. Tip-off is slated for 8:00 PM.