MONTGOMERY – The inside presence of Glenwood's Alisha Nelson proved too much for Fort Dale Academy as the Lady Gators beat the Lady Eagles 59-46, denying head coach Reggie Mantooth's squad a trip to the AISA Class AAA state title game at Huntingdon College.

Nelson dominated inside the paint, finishing with 18 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and her height forced the Lady Eagles to live and die by their perimeter shooting.

&#8220She (Nelson) made a big difference,” said Mantooth. &#8220We came into the game wanting to concentrate on stopping her and we didn't do a good job of that.”

Nelson's play helped teammate Kianna Pinkney lead all scorers with 20 point and the Lady Gators out-rebounded the Lady Eagles 41-25.

Guard Jennifer Pouncey led FDA scorers with 14 points.

Glenwood (32-0), ranked No. 1 in the state prior to the postseason, moves on to face defending state champion Faith today at 4 p.m. Faith held off a challenge by Lee-Scott Academy on Friday.

For Fort Dale (25-4), ranked No. 2 in AISA, Mantooth knew it would take a superior effort by his team to beat Glenwood.

&#8220I thought they outplayed us,” he said. &#8220We needed some things to go well for us to be able to play with them and those things didn't happen.”

The Lady Gators never trailed in the contest, although Fort Dale was able to hang tight with Glenwood in the opening quarter.

Casey Hicks' steal and basket with 3:30 left in the first period tied the game at 8-8.

But Glenwood broke the tie with an 8-0 scoring burst before Pouncey knocked down a three-pointer to halt the run.

The Lady Eagles crept back in the game before the half.

Tyler Manning sank a three-point basket and Ulli Sandstrom was fouled attempting her own three-pointer. The junior sank two of three foul shots.

Glenwood led at halftime 31-24.

Nelson and the Lady Gators pulled away in the second period.

Glenwood's senior forward hit a pair of consecutive shots to open another run for the Lady Gators and Glenwood led 45-32 going into the fourth period.

Glenwood also did damage at the foul line, going 15 out of 31. Fort Dale managed just eight trips to the free throw line.

Morgan Pouncey and Michele Hulick had eight points each for Fort Dale. Manning finished with six.