MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Brewton-Parker Women's Basketball program opened SSAC Tournament play with a 72-64 win over Faulkner (Ala.) at the Multiplex at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.

The No. 7-seeded Lady Barons (15-10) utilized a huge fourth-quarter surge to down the No. 2-seeded Eagles (16-13) to advance to the Tournament Semifinals.

"I'm so proud of our team," Head Coach Steve Edwards said. "We fought hard, and we made huge plays when it mattered most. It's tough to win games in our league."

"We beat a really good team today," Edwards mentioned. "We have so much respect for their coaches and players. I feel like I've seen their seniors grow up over the years and we have enjoyed the competition between our two programs."

"I consider Coach Sutton a friend and our relationship is bigger than basketball," Edwards added.

How It Happened

Faulkner opened the scoring nearly a minute and a half in the first period to lead by two. Brewton-Parker answered nearly two minutes later to level the game at two points apiece. The Eagles then quickly moved to a seven-point lead with 5:32 left to play.

The Lady Barons managed to pull the deficit down to just one point with 3:02 left, down 11-10. A trey ball from Madison Evans at the 1:50 mark level the game at 13-13 but the Eagles were able to respond by closing out the first quarter with a 19-15 lead.

The second quarter was not very friendly for the Lady Barons as they managed to just score eight points. Faulkner was able to jump out to a 16-point lead late in the period but a free throw from Chardell Jones helped to knock the deficit down to 12 points at the break. Faulkner outscored Brewton-Parker 15-8 in the second quarter to lead 35-23 at the halftime break.

Brewton-Parker gained some momentum after the break, but Faulkner remained in control after the third installment. BPC outscored the Eagles 19-16 with a 10-point, 51-41 deficit with 10 minutes left to play.

Keonya Mincey opened the fourth quarter with six points to knock the deficit down to just four points with 9:13 left in the game. After a Faulkner jumper, Cisley Copper hit a huge bucket from beyond the arc to pull the Eagles' lead down to three, 53-50. The Lady Barons kept creeping close to leveling the game with chances to equalize. BPC eventually broke through and tied the game 62-62 with a massive trey from Copper with 3:52 left.

Faulkner reclaimed the lead with two free throws, but Brewton-Parker quickly leveled the game yet again with a bucket from Evans. Mincey knocked down a three-pointer with 1:43 left to give the Lady Barons a three-point lead. BPC was able to hold on in the final minute to seal the victory, 72-64.

Inside The Statistics

• Mincey and Evans led the scoring for BPC with 23 points apiece while Evans notched a double-double, adding 10 rebounds.
• Angel McRae gathered a double-double, scoring 10 points and snagging 11 rebounds. Micah Bess also picked up 11 boards to help lead the Lady Barons.
• Brewton-Parker shot the ball nearly 30 more times than Faulkner. BPC shot for 31.4% (27-of-86) from the floor, 27.6% (8-of-29) from three, and 83.3% (10-of-12) from the charity stripe.
• The Lady Barons dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Eagles 53-41.

Other Notables

• Faulkner gave up 14 turnovers while Brewton-Parker gave up just seven.
• The Eagles gathered seven blocks with the Lady Barons picking up three.
• Faulkner had four players in double-figure scoring with Angel Grant going for a double-double with 16 points and 13 boards. In addition, Grant notched six blocks.

Next Up

• The Lady Barons are now set for the SSAC Tournament Semifinals at 6 p.m. ET tomorrow night. BPC will face the winner of No. 3-seeded Talladega (Ala.) and No. 6-seeded Mobile (Ala.).