PENSACOLA, Fla. – Coastal Carolina and Troy win and advance in to the semifinals of the 2025 Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship.
Game 9: (4) Coastal Carolina 77, (8) Georgia State 68 [Box Score]
(4) Coastal Carolina took down (8) Georgia State 77-68 to earn a meeting with top seeded James Madison in the semifinals.
Coastal was led by Alancia Ramsey, who kicked off her tournament with a 18-point, 10 rebound performance. Jayden Marable had a near double-double, with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Mikyla Tolivert led the way for the Panthers, with 26 points and seven rebounds. She ends her tournament having averaged, 24.7 points per game through three games.
Four turnovers in the opening minutes of the game from Coastal kept them off the board, while 0-4 shooting from Georgia State left them scoreless as well. The Chants were able to pull away, going on an 8-0 run to go up 14-6. The Panthers responded with a 10-0 run of their own and tied the game heading into the second quarter, 16-16.
The two teams would battle in the second, with neither team able to hold a lead for long. The quarter would see six lead changes, with Coastal outscoring Georgia State just 17-12 to maintain a lead heading into the half, 34-28.
The Chants shot 44.1 percent from the field while Georgia State shot just 23.5.
Coastal quickly got out to a 10-point lead to begin the third, leading 42-32 at the six-minute mark. The Panthers would continue to struggle from the field, shooting just 18.2 percent midway through the third, allowing the Chants to pull away by as much as 18.
Finding their stride in the fourth, Tolivert drained a triple to pull Georgia State within seven, down 46-53 with eight minutes on the clock. However, trouble would come when center Mahogany Matthews would foul out midway through the fourth, leaving the squad without the league’s defensive player of the year for the rest of the game.
Coastal began to pull away once again, going up 15 with just under three minutes to play, but Georgia State again found a way to pull within eight after back-to-back triples near the one-minute mark.
Despite the late push from the Panthers, the Chants would go five for their last seven, pulling away and moving into the semifinals with a 77-68 win.
Gerogia State finishes the year 17-16.
(4) Coastal Carolina with take on (1) James Madison at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.
Game 10: (3) Troy 85, (11) Marshall 54 [Box Score]
After winning four games in four days, (11) Marshall’s season came to an end, falling to (3) Troy 85-54. Troy earns a meeting with (2) Arkansas State on Sunday in the tournament semifinals.
Troy’s Fortuna Ngnawo led the team, recording a 19 point, 12 rebound double-double. Two other Trojans scored in the double figures, with Zay Dyer dropping 16 and Briana Peguero having 10 of her own.
Brianna Jackson contributed 10 rebounds, while Shaulana Wagner had eight rebounds and five assists.
Marshall was led by Aislynn Hayes, who had 23 points, the only member of the Herd in double figures. Hayes, the league’s leading scorer, finished the tournament having averaged, 19.6 points per game.
The two teams started off by trading triples, with the Trojans getting off to a 6-3 lead after hitting a pair back-to-back. Troy would push the pace and put on a full court press for Marshall to work through.
The Herd didn’t shy away, trailing by a narrow margin most of the first until Peyton Ilderton knocked down a three to tie it at 12 a piece, giving Marshall some momentum. Continuing to battle, Troy would come out on top in the first, up 18-17.
Fatigue caught up with Marshall in the second allowing Troy to extend its lead. The Trojan’s would go on a run, hitting five of its seven shots over a five-minute span to take a 36-28 lead towards the end of the second.
Marshall would be down just six heading into the locker room at 40-34.
Troy would take over in the third, as Marshall struggled to score, with just nine points shooting just 10.0 percent from the field. They wouldn’t get closer than eight, before Troy would pull away, ending the third with a 14-point lead.
The Trojans quickly extended the lead to 20, up 63-43 just two minutes in.
Marshall would be unable to keep up with the pace Troy pushed, allowing them to go on a 13-3 run in the middle of the fourth. Down 76-50 with four minutes left in the game. The Herd wouldn’t be able to come back, falling 85-54.
Marshall’s season comes to an end, having gone 15-20 on the year.
(3) Troy will face (2) Arkansas State tomorrow in the tournament semifinals. The two teams met twice in the regular season, with the Red Wolves taking both meetings.
2025 Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship
Tuesday, March 4
Game 1 – (12) Georgia Southern def. (13) Southern Miss, 70-59
Game 2 – (11) Marshall def. (14) South Alabama, 73-59
Wednesday, March 5
Game 3 – (12) Georgia Southern def. (9) ULM, 75-69
Game 4 – (11) Marshall def. (10) Texas State, 68-62
Thursday, March 6
Game 5 – (8) Georgia State def. (12) Georgia Southern, 70-64
Game 6 – (11) Marshall def. (7) Louisiana, 48-46
Friday, March 7
Game 7 – (8) Georgia State def. (5) Old Dominion – 70-64
Game 8 – (11) Marshall def. (6) App State – 75-66
Saturday, March 8
Game 9 – (4) Coastal Carolina def. (8) Georgia State, 77-68
Game 10 – (3) Troy def. (11) Marshall, 85-54
Sunday, March 9
Game 11 – (1) James Madison vs. (4) Coastal Carolina – 11:30 a.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 12 – (2) Arkansas State vs. (3) Troy – 2 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Monday, March 10 (Championship)
Game 13 – Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12 – 1 p.m. CT [ESPN/ESPN2]