Hanna Cooper
Staff Writer
The Troy women’s basketball team entered the Sun Belt Conference tournament as the third seed. The Trojans took on the seventh seed South Alabama in a quarterfinal’s matchup.
The Trojans struggled shooting throughout the matchup going 30-for-87 from the floor.
The Jaguars opened with a double-digit lead in the first quarter, but Troy responded in the second quarter through dominating the paint, scoring 16 points and adding a free throw to take a single point lead into halftime.
South Alabama’s Shaforia Kines dominated the final quarter and a half of play with 20 points after the Trojans knocked down three shots from behind the arc.
The Trojans refused to back down, and with 24 seconds remaining in regulation, Amber Rivers hauled in an offensive rebound and made the layup to knot the game at 69 and send it into overtime.
In overtime, the Jaguars outscored the Trojans 17-3 to end Troy’s Sun Belt Conference tournament run. The Jaguars ended up making it to the championship game of the tournament but lost to Little Rock.
Despite its Sun Belt Conference tournament run coming to an end, Troy’s season did not. For the fourth time in five seasons, Troy will play postseason basketball. The Trojans will host UAB in the first round of the 2019 Women’s National Invitational Tournament Thursday.
“We are looking forward to being the first team in Troy history to win a postseason game,” Troy Head Coach Chanda Rigby said. “Though we didn’t get the result we wanted in New Orleans (Sun Belt Conference Tournament), the team put itself in a position to get an invitation to this prestigious tournament and a chance to continue its season.”
The game will mark the first time in program history Troy has hosted a postseason game. Tickets will go on sale at 8 a.m. Tuesday, general admission tickets are $5 while students will be admitted for free.
