Eagles Find Their Footing in Opening Weekend

Plymouth, MN - The Faith women's basketball team opened their season this past weekend on the road at the Free Lutheran Bible College Classic. The Eagles were traveling short-handed, with only 6 of their rostered players being able to make the trip, but they were eager to step on the court for the first time in the 2023-2024 season. 

The Eagles matched up against the Providence Pilots on Friday for the first game of the weekend. The Pilots jumped out to an early 11-5 lead as the young Eagles looked to get their feet on the ground. Faith started two sophomores, Kaitlyn Rodriquez and Kayla Stephens, and one freshman, Gabriella Widman, alongside the junior leaders Mikayla Jones and Whitney Wacker. 

Providence's full court press took the Eagle's the first quarter to figure out, with the Pilots leading at the end of the first quarter 21-10. The second quarter saw much of the same on the defensive side of the ball for the Eagles, as the Pilots scored 23 more points. Faith was able to answer on the offensive side by scoring 21 points of their own behind the hot shooting from Mikayla Jones (8) and Kayla Stephens (5). The Pilots gave themselves a cushion of 44-31 at the half. 

The Eagles came out in the second half looking to make a run, and a run is what they made. They cut the Pilot's lead to 6 points with 5 minutes to go in the game, but they ran out of gas late with just 6 players making the Eagle rotation. The Eagles would fall to the Pilots 68-56. 

Mikayla Jones led the way for the Eagles with 27 points and 14 rebounds, followed by Emma Boldt (9 pts)  and Kayla Stephen (8 pts). On S

On Saturday Faith got out to a fast start in the first quarter against Free Lutheran with the hot shooting of Mikayla Jones (14 points), and an overwhelming defense from the Eagles, only allowing 8 points. The Eagles finished the first quarter ahead 20-8. 

The second quarter was one that both teams would like to forget, as the Conquerors went 0-12 for the quarter, not scoring a point, while the Eagles shot a cold 1-15 themselves. The Eagles were able to find themselves at the free throw line a couple of times to earn themselves 5 points for the quarter and take a 25-8 lead into the locker room. 

Both teams were looking to get going in the second half. Each team was able to get the ball to their leading scorers, as Mikayla Jones had 7 for the Eagles and Lauren Jones had 7 for the Conquerors. FLBC was unable to cut into the lead, as the Eagles scored a bucket late to take a 36-18 lead into the final quarter. 

Trading buckets early and often in the fourth quarter, both teams were able to match the points from the first, with Faith winning the quarter 16-12 and putting the game away.

Mikayla Jones led all scorers with 29 points and 6 rebounds for the Eagles, and Lauren Jones led the way for the Conquerors with 15 points and 6 rebounds. The Eagles got their first win of the season, walking away with a 52-30 win, moving to 1-1 for the weekend. 

The Eagles are in action Tuesday for an exhibition game at Simpson College in Indianola, IA at 7pm.