Women’s basketball advances to Super 16 after win in the WNIT

Postseason basketball gets underway

Brady Fitch photo

Fortuna Ngnawo stands during Troy’s WNIT game against Chattanooga.

“I am happy for them, until they come to Trojan Arena,” said head coach Chanda Rigby after the Troy women’s basketball team took down Chattanooga in the second round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. “It’s on, and it’s going to be war.”The quote, given by Rigby regarding other teams getting the chance to compete in the WNIT, perfectly sums up the gritty 85-72 win over the Mocs, the second win for Troy over the Tennessee based school this season and fourth overall. The win moves Troy to 4-0 all time against Chattanooga.

The Mocs handled Alabama A&M at home before five Trojans reached double digits to help bring Chattanooga’s season to an end. Forward Zay Dyer continued her impressive junior campaign into the postseason as she led the Trojans with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Fellow junior forward Fortuna Ngnawo came right behind Dyer with 17 points and nine rebounds to just miss out on her own double-double. The seniors decided they weren’t done yet, as Ashley Baez contributed 13 points while Shaulana Wagner and Brianna Jackson added 11 points each.

The win marked the second year in a row the Trojans have won a postseason game, as the 2023-24 season saw the Trojans not only win their first postseason game in program history, but also saw the Trojans make the Fab Four of the WNIT.

“Every year we try to build on something that no one has done before,”  Rigby said. “Last year our goal, we wanted to win the first postseason game in program history.

“And we did, we took it all the way to the Fab four of the WNIT. This year we gotta up that right? Our heart is set, we’re looking at one game at a time, we got our hands full on Thursday, we are looking at doing better than that and winning this national title.”

The Trojans are on track to do so as the win pushes them into the Super 16 of the WNIT, where they play host to a tough North Texas squad. Troy is down 3-8 in the all-time series to North Texas but holds a 3-2 record at home against the Mean Green with the last matchup between the two schools being in 2013, an 86-69 Trojan win at home.

The win over the Mocs saw a slow start for Troy, as Chattanooga got the offense and defense going quick, taking a 10-4 lead early.

Troy answered back, tying the game at 12 before Chattanooga pushed the advantage back up to six, 18-12. Troy would then get a quick bucket by Dyer to cut the lead to 18-14 before neither team scored for the last two minutes of the quarter.

The Mocs wouldn’t slow down out of the quarter break, maximizing their lead to as large as 10, 27-17, before the Trojans started to chip away. Six straight points from Jackson slashed the deficit in half as a Dyer tip in followed to make it a three-point game in favor of the Mocs.

A Wagner triple with 20 seconds in the half saw the Trojans grab their first lead of the night, 35-34, since the 18 second mark in the first quarter when they led 2-0. Chattanooga fired back though, as a buzzer beating three gave the Mocs a 37-35 advantage heading into halftime.

Out of the half Troy struck first with a Baez three to start the quarter out strong. It was a back-and-forth affair for much of the third as neither team could get a lead larger than three before another Baez three gave the Trojans a 55-49 lead with 1:48 left. A Ngnawo and-1 extended that lead to as high as nine.

The Mocs tried to stifle the run with a quick jumper but a Wagner three and Emani Jenkins pull up gave the Trojans a 12-point advantage, 63-51, going into the final quarter.

The closest Troy would let the Mocs get in the final quarter was seven as the Trojans seemed to have an answer to anything thrown at them. Chattanooga hung around just in reach until another Wagner three and Briana Peguero jumper pushed the advantage to 15 with 2:05 left.

From there the Trojans all but clinched the win, adding four more points to their total to take an 85-72 win over Chattanooga and advance to the Super 16 for the second year in a row.

It will have to be a quick celebration for the Trojans as they turn around and host North Texas in the Super 16 matchup on Thursday, Mar. 27 at 6 p.m. in Trojan Arena. The Mean Green carry a 25-8 record on the season into Trojan Arena.