Fortuna Ngnawo celebrates after hitting a jumper against Kent State.
Troy women’s basketball downed in-state foe South Alabama in an 86-71 win to clinch a fourth seed or higher for the Sun Belt Conference tournament for the 10th season in a row.
The win guarantees a quintuple bye for the Trojans despite dropping the Thursday matchup to ULM.
“We’re very thankful to have this win in South Alabama.” said head coach Chanda Rigby in an interview with Troy Athletics. “These road wins are not easy to come by, especially with an in-state rival.”
Junior Zay Dyer returned to the top of the score sheet in the win as she scored 23 points while contributing 10 rebounds to record her 14th double-double of the season. Behind her came the guard duo of Briana Peguero and Ashley Baez, who both added 10 points for the Trojans.
It was a 50% shooting percentage from the field that helped Troy overcome 30 foul calls against the Trojans. Despite the high number, no Trojans fouled out with three players finishing with four fouls.
In a game of runs, the Jaguars pulled out to a quick 5-0 lead before the Trojans put in a 5-0 run of their own. South Alabama responded with a 10-1 run to push the lead to 15-8 midway through the first quarter. It wouldn’t deter the Trojans though, as Troy finished the quarter on a 15-4 run to take a 23-19 lead going into the first quarter break.
Troy continued out of the quarter break, keeping the Jaguars at bay until four minutes left in the quarter when the Jaguars got within two, 35-33. A 7-0 run was the response from the Trojans, capped by two free throws from Khila Morris. Both teams stayed steady with Troy holding a 46-41 lead going into halftime.
That would be all she wrote, as Troy never relinquished the lead the rest of the way. The Jaguars got as close as three points in the third quarter before a 13-1 Trojan run helped keep Troy ahead, taking a 70-59 lead going into the final quarter.
South Alabama got within four points early in the fourth before the Trojans helped use a 10-2 run to extend the lead back up to double digits. Troy would keep the Jaguars back, ending the game with an 86-71 win.
The rivalry win was a great bounce back for the Trojans after they dropped game one of the road trip to ULM on Thursday night. The 84-73 loss was the first loss for the Trojans in the last 15 matchups.
Two forwards led the way in Monroe, with Dyer and Brianna Jackson both securing double-double performances in the loss. Dyer led the way with 16 points and 18 rebounds while Jackson had 14 points and 10 rebounds of her own.
Guard Shaulana Wagner also added double digit points with her own 12 points, her first double digit outing since scoring 14 points in the win over Arkansas in December. Fellow guard Leilani Guion also poured in nine points of her own.
The Warhawks of ULM started out strong, pushing the lead to as big as 21-8. The Trojans eventually started to push back, getting the lead down to seven points at the end of the first quarter, a 26-19 deficit.
Troy came out of the quarter break quickly, cutting the lead to two points before ULM started to get more offense going. The Warhawks stayed just out of the Trojans’ reach for most of the quarter before a Peguero three-pointer gave Troy its first lead of the night with 1:06 left in the half. The score wouldn’t change before halftime, with Troy taking a 36-35 lead into the locker room.
Both teams went back and forth out of the half with neither team getting a lead bigger than four points until 1:13 left in the third quarter. A ULM three pushed the Warhawks lead to seven before holding a 68-58 lead into the final quarter.
Despite ULM putting two more points on the board to extend their lead to 12, The Trojans shoved back, cutting the deficit to as little as four points, 71-75. That was as close as Troy could get though, as ULM ended the game on a 9-2 run to get their first win over the Trojans since 2016.
Troy returns home for their final two games of the regular season on Wednesday, Feb. 26 and Friday, Feb. 28. The Wednesday night matchup pits Troy against Texas State, who Troy beat for their biggest conference win in school history earlier this season, 105-58. The Friday night finale on the other hand sets up a rematch with Arkansas State, the second-place team in the conference standings who sits one game above Troy.
Both games tip off at 7 p.m. in Trojan Arena.
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