THOMASVILLE, GA — The Thomas University women's basketball team dropped its final home game of the 2021 calendar year Saturday afternoon, as the Eagles from Faulkner University completed the season sweep over the Night Hawks 75-32.
Right out of the gates, the Eagles jumped out to 4-0 lead, but the Night Hawks responded with a pair of layups from Junior guard Ta'Nija Watson who leveled the contest at four apiece. Then, in the next couple possessions, neither team broke the 4-4 deadlock until TU Junior Amayla Sharif provided Thomas its first and only lead of the day 6-4.
After that, the Eagles carried an eight point run to end the quarter taking a 12-6 lead into the second.
The Night Hawks responded again at the beginning of the second, as Ta'Nija Watson continued her solid play from the first stepping into rhythm knocking down a long-range basket to stop the bleeding.
Despite the second quarter of action being the best quarter of the day for the Night Hawks, the Faulkner lead grew to 15 (34-19) by halftime, with the Eagles never looking back.
In fact, the third period of action saw very little fall in the way of Thomas, as the Eagles opened the second half on a 20-0 run that moved the lead to 54-19. Ta'Nija Watson once again bailed TU out of the scoring drought hitting a two, but it was too little too late, as Faulkner won the frame 22-3 and headed to the final 10 minutes of the game leading 56-22.
Overall, the Night Hawks were led by their primary ball-handler of Ta'Nija Watson, who led the team with 13 points , two assists , and three steals. Additionally, Watson was tied with 6'2" Graduate student Alexis Boston with a team-best four rebounds. Forward Dyani Sheppard turned in another solid performance in her Senior season, contributing seven points on 3-5 shooting.
In the end, Faulkner capitalized in transition basketball scoring 26 points off of TU's 18 turnovers. The Eagles had four players reach the double-digit mark, with Redshirt Senior Ashlyn Adkins leading the way with 13. The offensive prowess of the Ashlyn Adkins led Faulkner University team was too much to overcome, as the Night Hawks fell 75-32 in the final home game in the 2021 calendar year.
Up next, the Night Hawks are scheduled to travel north to Truett McConnell University to face off against the Bears inside Benjamin F. Brady Arena. Tipoff on Tuesday, December 14th is set for 5:30 p.m.
For up-to-date information on TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by-play, and feature stories of TU women's basketball follow them via Twitter at @NightHawksWBKB.
