Explosive Second Half Leads Troy to Victory
THIBODAUX, Louisiana – The Troy women's basketball team scored 55 points in the final 16 minutes en route to a 100-75 win over Nicholls State at Stopher Gym on Wednesday.
Kayla Robinson and Harriet Winchester set career-highs with 19 and 18 points, respectively, to lead the Trojans offensively. Troy (6-2) trailed 40-39 at halftime but dominated the third quarter, 30-15 to take control of the contest.
Nicholls State (3-6) was 12-for-31 (38.7 percent) from 3-point range to keep the game close but Cassidy Barrios, who entered as the team's leading scorer, didn't make her first shot until the fourth quarter.
Robinson was 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-4 from 3-point. Winchester hit 8-of-14 shots. In total, six Trojans scored in double-digits. Lauren Day converted her first three shots and had had made seven straight when combined with her 4-for-4 performance against Jacksonville. The senior finished with 14 points and four rebounds.
ArJae' Saunders scored 13 points and added five assists while Caitlyn Ramirez scored 12 and finished with a game-high nine rebounds. Senior Jayla Chills chipped in with 10 points.
Hope Pawlowski was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and 8-for-17 overall to lead the Colonels with 20 points.
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Troy returns home to face in-state rival UAB on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. The Trojans fell to UAB, 89-67, last season.
Mountaineers Suffer Setback at Tennessee
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Madi Story scored a game-high 21 points, but it wasn’t enough as Appalachian State University women’s basketball (4-6) suffered a 92-66 defeat to Tennessee (4-6) Wednesday evening at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Story eclipsed the 20-point mark for the sixth time in her career while tonight’s outing was a career-best on the road for the junior.
Joi Jones rounded out the leading scorers with her seventh game of the season reaching at least 15 points. Jones also recorded a team-best seven boards in the process.
Q Murray scored six of her eight points on a pair of trifectas in the first 3:28 of the game to help Appalachian hit four of its first six shots and take a 10-6 lead. After UT had tied the game 12-all, the Black and Gold put together a 10-4 run over a 2:25 span to capture their largest lead of the game at six, 22-16. Story scored six of the points while Cydni Cole and Ashley Bassett-Smith both chipped in with buckets.
The Mountaineers started fast against the Vols (5-4) scoring 24 points on a blistering 73.3 percent (11-for-15) in the first quarter to jump out to a 24-20 lead. App State scored its most points in the first quarter this season, and the shooting performance was the highest of any quarter in 10 games.
From that point on, the Vols clamped down on defense against the Apps over the next two quarters, dooming the Mountaineers’ chances for a win. Appalachian was held to 22 points and shot below 20 percent while committing nine of its 15 turnovers in the second and third frames. In the first and fourth quarters, Appalachian outscored UT, 44-43, shot 58.1 percent from the floor and turned the ball over just six times.
Appalachian performed well from the free throw line, tying a season-high 77.8 percent (14-18) clip with Story hitting a team-best six free throws. Bria Carter and Murray both led the team in assists with three apiece. Four players recorded at least five boards with Bayley Plummer,Story and Bassett-Smith following Jones with five boards each.
Five players scored in double figures with Alexa Middleton scoring a UT-high 20 points off the bench while Jamie Nared notched a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards.
App State will have six days off before UNC Asheville visits the High Country for the non-conference finale on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 1 p.m. in the Holmes Center.