MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Erichea Barnes, who signed with Mercer after a stellar career at Whitefield Academy in Austell, Ga., has decided to transfer to Faulkner and will join the Lady Eagles for the 2012-2013 season.

Barnes, a 1,000-point scorer at Whitefield, will have three years of eligibility remaining. The 5-6 combination guard averaged 17 points and three assists a game in high school. During her freshman season at Mercer, she appeared in 18 games, averaging six minutes of playing time.

"We are excited to have Erichea join our basketball family," Faulkner head coach Reed Sutton said. "She is a leader and she can score in a variety of way, but plays within the team environment. She had several opportunities but decided on Faulkner because she loved the environment, felt comfortable with our players and she felt we gave her the best opportunity to win over the next three years."

Barnes joins Shannon Evans, Shamonte Lanfair, Megan Ausdran and Jasmine Lee-Stackhouse in the 2012 signing class, one that Sutton feels could have the Lady Eagles in line to compete for the Southern States Athletic Association West Division championship.

"Assistant coach (Kat) Kundmueller and our staff have put together our third consecutive extremely strong recruiting class," he said. "We feel the talent on our roster puts us in position to do some special things. Now it's time to go to work."

Faulkner opens its 2012-13 season Nov. 2 at home against Webber International in the Jimmy Faulkner Classic.