Women’s basketball extends winning streak to seven games

Wally Pendergrass

Staff Writer

The Trojans’ women’s basketball team extended its win streak to seven this week, while senior forward Ronita Garrett picked up another Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week award.

Garrett, who also was named CollegeSportsMadness.com’s Sun Belt Player of the Week, had two more double-doubles last week in Troy’s two wins.

She now has 20 double-doubles, which is the most in the Sun Belt. She also leads the Sun Belt in rebounding, averaging 11.1 rebounds per game.

The Trojans started the week on Thursday, Feb. 26, in San Marcos, Texas, looking to avenge an early season loss to Texas State.

Troy was ahead 36-33 at halftime, and then head coach Chanda Rigby made a defensive adjustment and the Bobcats couldn’t find an answer.

“Texas State shot great in the first half,” Rigby said. “In the second half, we changed defenses and only intended to stay in that defense for two to three minutes, but it was working so well and we stuck with it.”

The adjustment led to a 19-0 run for the Trojans to start the second half, and Troy never looked back, taking the win 75-59.

Garrett had a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds, and sophomore forward Caitlyn Ramirez had 16 rebounds and finished two points shy of a double-double.

Texas State was the last remaining Sun Belt opponent that Rigby had yet to beat during her tenure as head coach at Troy.

Troy honored its four senior players on Saturday, Feb. 28, in Trojan Arena, and in return, the seniors gave Troy its seventh straight win, an 88-75 victory over Georgia State.

The three seniors who played scored a combined 35 of the Trojans’ 88 points on Saturday.

Garrett had another double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while senior guard Aissata Maiga had 10 points and senior guard Kourtney Coleman had eight.

The fourth senior, forward Brianna Lancaster, missed her 11th game due to an injury.

“Tonight we wanted to send the seniors out with a win,” Rigby said. “We also wanted to play a lot of people and begin to prepare to be our best down the stretch. These goals were met, so it was a successful night.”

The Trojans have one more game before the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. They close the regular season on the road against rival South Alabama on Saturday, March 7.

The Trojans have locked up the No. 3 seed in the tournament, but could advance to the No. 2 seed.

The Trojans would need a miracle win from rival South Alabama against Arkansas State on Thursday, March 5, to have a chance.

If the Jaguars do upset the Red Wolves, then Troy could get the No. 2 seed with a win over South Alabama and another Red Wolves loss, this time to UL Lafayette on Saturday.

The Sun Belt Conference Tournament starts Wednesday, March 11, in New Orleans. Troy will play at either 5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m., depending on its seed.

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