Trojans Battle, Fall Late at Florida

Tuesday, December 4

Gainesville, Fla.

6:00 p.m.

Troy University

Florida

Photo by: Cass Davis

12/4/2012 8:24:00 PM | Basketball (W)

By: Matt Mays

Box Score

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Troy women's basketball team couldn't buy a basket and saw a close game with Florida get away in the second half as the Trojans fell to the Gators, 87-62, at the O'Connell Center on Tuesday night.

Troy (1-6) cut the Florida lead to five points with a 3-pointer to open the second half, but Florida went on a 20-4 run as Troy shot just 2-of-15 over that span and the lead grew to 21 points.

The Trojans ended the game shooting just 29.6 percent (21-of-71) overall and 26.5 percent (9-of-34) from deep. Troy did shoot 78.6 percent (11-of-14) from the line.

Troy was led on the night by Joanna Harden who had 18, including four 3-pointers, while Britney McCloud was also in double figures with 17. The Trojans played well in the post, scoring 17 second chance points against a bigger Florida lineup.

“This was a step up from the competition we've been playing, and I was pleased with how we played,” Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. “For three-fourths of that game we were outrebounding them and I'm most proud of that.”

Florida (6-3), an NCAA Tournament team a year ago, turned the ball over 23 times under Troy's pressure after averaging just 17.8 turnovers coming in.

The Gators shot 52.5 percent (31-of-59) overall and had five in double figures led by Sydney Moss and Carlie Needles who each had 18 on the night.

Troy struggled from the field in the first half at 32.4 percent (12-of-37) and from deep at 27.8 percent (5-of-18), but outrebounded the Gators 22-21 and shot a perfect 7-of-7 at the free throw line to go into the break down by just eight at 44-36.

“We played at a different level tonight and if we can translate this into some games in our league, we're going to beat some people,” Rigby said.

The Trojans return to the floor on Sunday when they host Alabama State at Trojan Arena at 2 p.m.

For more information on Troy Athletics, be sure to visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter at @TroyAthletics or on Facebook at Facebook.com/TroyAthletics.