Women’s basketball win streak snapped in first conference loss

(Photo/ Pawan Khanal) Japonica James drives the paint against Louisiana defenders in Saturday’s 79-73 loss. James finished with 20 points and six rebounds.Hanna CooperStaff Writer The Troy women’s basketball team’s nine-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday when the Trojans fell to Louisiana, 79-73, inside Trojan Arena. “We are pretty sad right now because we were on a pretty good roll and were trying to take games one-by-one,” Head Coach Chanda Rigby said. “This one ended up knocking us off. (Louisiana) did an amazing job, and they had a great game plan and came in with great energy.” Within the first three minutes of the quarter, the Trojans faced a seven-point deficit with their lone bucket coming from Amber Rivers, but Japonica James sparked the team coming off the bench with seven points to end the quarter with a one-point advantage. The Ragin’ Cajuns came out firing in the second half, outscoring Troy, 20-14, to take a five-point lead into halftime. The Trojans bounced back in the third quarter, sending the nail biter into the fourth quarter with a score of 52-49. Louisiana’s Makayia Hallmon was the spark plug that the Ragin’ Cajuns needed to take down the Trojans, who were undefeated in conference play and inside Trojan Arena. Hallmon knocked down five of her six shots from the floor, including a pair of threes to give Louisiana the nod over the Trojans. The freshman ended the game with 11 points. Despite the loss, Jasmine Robinson and Japonica James led all scorers with 20 points each. Robinson has now scored 13 or more points in all four of Troy’s Sun Belt Conference games this season. “It’s all about the rebound, all about the bounce backs,” Rigby said. “We have to learn from our mistakes. Then it’s about our attitude, effort, motivation and focus to start another streak.” Troy takes on Georgia SouthernThursday for a 5:30 p.m. tip before traveling to Atlanta to take on Georgia Southern at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Eagles (5-10, 2-2) are eighth in Sun Belt Conference play, and the Trojans (12-3, 3-1) currently are third.