Thursday, Dec. 18
Trojans Fall in Shootout with Evansville, 94-85
EVANSVILLE, Indiana – The Troy women's basketball team scored a season-high 85 points, but fell in what was a shootout at Evansville, 94-85, on Thursday night at the Ford Center.
Troy (4-4) got a pair of 20-point performances from Rachel Reid and Ronita Garrett, but it wasn't enough as Evansville shot 63 percent in the game. Reid had a game-high 22 points, including five 3-pointers. Garrett posted her sixth double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Garrett also posted four assists and four steals, both topes for Troy.
The Trojans committed 12 turnovers in the first half as Evansville (5-4) shot 60 percent and built an 18-point lead at the break, 53-35. The Purple Aces built that lead up to as many as 26 points with 6:43 to go in the game.
However, Troy started to force Evansville into turnovers down the stretch and reduced the lead to single digits, but couldn't get closer than nine points. Troy forced 10 of the Purple Aces' 24 turnovers in the final five minutes, but it wasn't enough to overcome Evansville's hot shooting.
The Purple Aces shot 67 percent (14-of-21) in the second half and made 10 3-pointers on the night, most of those in the first half as they built their initial lead. Troy shot 48 percent (20-of-42) in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome a 39 percent effort in the first half.
The Trojans did hit nine 3-pointers themselves, but went to the free throw line a season-low 10 times (8-of-10). Evansville, on the other hand, was 14-of-23 at the line. Despite the foul disparity, Troy outscored Evansville in the paint, 46-40, on the night.
Troy also outscored the Purple Aces in every other specialty stat category, including a 31-14 advantage in points off turnovers. The Trojans have 17 fast break points, their fourth time going over 10 this season.
Brianna Lancaster was a third Trojan to score in double figures as she posted a season-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
For the second straight game, and just the second time this season, the Trojans were held under 40 rebounds as they got outrebounded, 34-33. However, just five of Evansville's boards came on the offensive end as the rebound difference came largely due to the difference in shooting percentages.
Sara Dickey tied Reid for game-high honors as she led Evansville with 22 points. Mallory Ladd recorded a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Purple Aces to their fourth straight win.
Troy returns to the court on Saturday it continues its current road trip at Tennessee State. The game against the Lady Tigers, which is set to begin at 6 p.m., will mark the Trojans final non-conference game.
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Offense Falters as UALR Falls to South Dakota State
BROOKINGS, S.D. – In a building called Frost Arena, the UALR offense was ice cold on Thursday night.
The Trojans shot 18 of 56 from the field – including a 6-of-24 performance in the first half and suffered a 67-42 defeat at the hands of South Dakota State.
UALR (6-2) scored the first four points of the game, but the team never led again after the Jackrabbits (8-3) went on an 11-0 run right after that. The 42 points UALR scored was the Trojans’ lowest total since January 2013, and their field goal percentage of 32 came just one game after shooting 58 percent against Oklahoma.
Shanity James led the way for the UALR offense with 17 points including 14 in the second half. SDSU tried to help out UALR by committing 28 turnovers on the night, but the Trojans only picked up 18 points on those turnovers.
Taylor Gault was UALR’s next-highest scorer with 7 points while Alexius Dawn and Kiera Clark contributed 6 each. James was also UALR’s top rebounder with six boards. Dawn had a team-high six steals while Clark was close behind with five.
The victory for the Jackrabbits avenged a 66-45 defeat they suffered at the hands of UALR at the Jack Stephens Center last season.
UALR got off to a good start offensively, getting the first 4 points of the night while the Jackrabbits had six turnovers in the first five minutes. But SDSU went on an 11-0 run after that, taking its first lead of the night shortly after the first media timeout and extending it over the next four minutes.
As hot as the Trojan offense was in the first half against Oklahoma on Sunday, it was that cold in the first half against SDSU. Following Dawn’s early 2-pointer, the Trojans missed their next eight field goal attempts spanning more than seven minutes. By the time Gault hit a jumper with 10 minutes to play in the half, the Jackrabbits held a 13-7 lead.
SDSU only extended its lead from there, going up by as many as 13 points with 8:24 left in the half. That’s when the Trojans finally started hitting shots. UALR made three consecutive field goals to cut the Jackrabbits’ lead to just 9 points at 22-13.
But that brief spurt ended quickly. SDSU scored seven 7 of the final 9 points in the half, taking a 29-15 lead into the break. The Trojans’ 15 points were their lowest in any half this season, and the team converted just 10 points on 18 SDSU turnovers.
The second half was not much better. The Jackrabbits scored on their first possession, and after UALR got the next basket, SDSU went on a 15-0 run to take a 49-17 lead with 13 minutes still to play.
In the game’s final 13 minutes, UALR more than doubled its offense from the previous 27. But by then it was too late, and the Jackrabbits had their starters pulled with five minutes to play.
Overall tonight, the Jackrabbits outrebounded UALR 47-24 including an impressive 14 offensive rebounds. UALR had a season-high 15 steals, but the team did not have a single 3-point basket in the contest.
The Trojans have a short two-day rest before taking on their next opponent. UALR will stay on the road, though, taking on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in Tulsa on Sunday at 2 p.m.