PENSACOLA, Fla. – Troy advanced to the semifinals of the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Championship by holding off an upset-minded Texas State team, 103-90, in overtime in a quarterfinal game Saturday morning at the Pensacola Bay Center.
The Trojans - the top seed from the East Division - have now won nine straight games and face the No. 3 seed from the East, Appalachian State (15-11), in the semifinals on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. at the Pensacola Bay Center. Appalachian State advanced to the semis with a 54-46 win over UTA in its quarterfinal matchup Saturday and the Mountaineers come into Sunday's game riding a five-game winning streak of their own.
"We watched Texas State (against Georgia Southern in the first round) and we knew it wasn't going to be easy," said Troy head coach Chanda Rigby. "We got up 17 points at halftime, but we knew they weren't going to go out like that. We made some bad decisions in the third quarter and I'm just glad we were able to come through in overtime. We were fortunate to come out of here with a win."
The 103 points scored by Troy is the third-highest total in Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Championship history, which dates back to 1983. The Trojans are the first team to top the 100-point mark since Middle Tennessee did it in the 2010 tournament.
Troy (20-5) took the lead in the opening minute of action and slowly built a 23-15 advantage by the end of the first quarter. Alexus Dye did most of the damage for the Trojans, scoring 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting and pulling down four rebounds in the first period. Meanwhile, Troy limited the Bobcats to just 4-for-13 shooting (30.8 percent) as it raced out to the lead.
The Trojans stayed hot in the second quarter, making 11 of their 18 shots in the period (61.1 percent), to push their halftime lead to 48-31. Troy was 20-for-39 (51.3 percent) from the field overall in the first half, including 4-for-8 on 3-pointers, while Texas State made only 9 of its 30 shots (30.0 percent). Troy also outrebounded Texas State, 28-13, and had more offensive rebounds (10) than the Bobcats had defensive rebounds (nine). Dye almost had a double-double in the first half alone, scoring 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds, Jasmine Robinson pitched in 12 points and four assists and Felmas Koranga scored 10 and had eight rebounds as well for Troy. The trio of Kennedy Taylor, Ja'Kayla Bowie and Da'Nasia Hood had seven points apiece to pace Texas State.
Texas State (11-11) warmed up a bit in the opening moments of the third quarter, closing to within 10 points at 54-44 on a putback by Taylor with 6:08 to go in the period, before Troy stretched its lead back out to 15 points. However, the Bobcats didn't go away, making a 9-0 run to get to within 63-57 after a pair of free throws by Tianna Eaton with 1:00 showing on the clock and Troy's lead was down to 67-59 by the end of the period. The Trojans missed their last seven shots of the quarter and went the final 2:54 without a field goal as the Bobcats outscored Troy, 28-19, in the period.
"We felt like this game was winnable all the way through," said Texas State head coach Zenarae Antoine. "There never was a bit of panic from our group, even though we were down. We talked at halftime about where we could find opportunities to get back into the game and we did that."
In the fourth quarter, Bowie's layup off a turnover got Texas State to within 67-61 with 8:45 to go and the rest of regulation was a nip-and-tuck affair. The Bobcats kept chipping away at Troy's lead and finally took the lead, 81-80, on a free throw by Taylor with 1:26 remaining. Robinson drained a pair of free throws to give the Trojans the lead back, 82-81, with 1:12 left. Taylor came up big one more time, making a free throw with 1:01 remaining to tie the game at 82. Both teams had chances to take the lead in the final minute of regulation, but the game went to overtime tied at 82.
The extra period was all Troy, as the Trojans used a 9-0 run to open up a 96-84 lead with 1:35 left before cruising to the victory. Troy ended up outscoring Texas State, 21-8, in the overtime, making six of its 10 shots (60.0 percent) overall and 7-of-8 free throws (87.5 percent) to finally pull away from the Bobcats.
Dye finished her monster game with 37 points, 18 rebounds and two blocked shots to lead five double-digit scorers for the Trojans. Robinson had 18 points, nine assists and two steals, Koranga had 16 points, 19 rebounds and four assists, Tiyah Johnson had 12 points and seven rebounds and Janiah Sandifer chipped in 11 points, three rebounds and three assists. Troy outrebounded Texas State, 63-36, and had 30 second-chance points in the contest.
Rigby said one of the biggest keys to her team's being successful in the tournament going forward is staying consistent, both on the court and in mindset.
"Our team is very focused, but it can be hard to manage our emotions and energy level over so many days in a row," said Rigby. "There can be so many highs and lows over the course of a tournament and we just have to do the best we can to not get too high or too low."
Taylor led Texas State with 28 points, five assists and four rebounds. Bowie scored 23 points and also had five rebounds and three steals before fouling out, Lauryn Thompson scored 13 and Leff tossed in 11 points, six rebounds and three steals in the loss.