Wally Pendergrass
Staff Writer
The women’s basketball team split a pair of games this week, grabbing a convincing victory at home and losing a close match on the road.
On Thursday, Jan. 29, Troy pummeled ULM in the Trojan Arena with a final score of 90-51.
The Trojans used their ferocious defense to get a school record 23 steals while forcing 39 turnovers overall. The Trojans scored 41 points off turnovers.
The Trojans were dominating the game by halftime, leading 47-14 at the break. The second half was far closer with ULM scoring 37 points while Troy shot 43 points, but the Warhawks were unable to overcome their deficit.
Senior forward Ronita Garrett got her third straight double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Junior guard Ashley Beverly-Kelley led the Trojans with 23 points, while junior guard Rachel Reid finished the night with 17 points.
Troy’s success at the free-throw line also contributed to its lead. The Warhawks gathered only four fast-break points, while the Trojans scored 20.
“This was a very good win against a good ULM team that almost beat us at their place just two weeks ago,” said head coach Chanda Rigby.
Kicking off its three-game road trip, Troy traveled to Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Jan. 31, to face off with the Mavericks.
The Trojans played solid defense again on the road against UT Arlington, but a poor shooting effort led to a 70-67 loss.
The Trojans forced 31 UT Arlington turnovers, but converted those turnovers into only 17 points.
“Our biggest problem was scoring with numbers,” Rigby said. “We had 10 chances to score on numbers in the first half that we missed.”
Garrett once again claimed a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Beverly-Kelley once again led the team in scoring with 22 points.
The Trojans struggled to score, shooting only 28 percent on the night. Even Beverly-Kelley shot only 24 percent from the floor. Troy did manage to make 90.5 percent of its free throw shots.
However, the Mavericks made 52.1 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from behind the arc, leaving Troy scrambling to catch up.
Troy is tied for third place in the Sun Belt after the week. The Trojans travel to take on second-place Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on Thursday, Feb. 5.
Arkansas State is on a three-game winning streak and recently defeated Troy in Trojan Arena on Jan. 24.
Troy then travels to Boone, North Carolina, to take on Appalachian State on Saturday, Feb. 7.
The Trojans defeated the Mountaineers earlier this season 91-87.
On Thursday, Feb. 17, Troy returns home to play South Alabama at 5:15 p.m.
