Late Run, Missed Chances Sink Troy Against ULM

Thursday, January 10

Troy, Ala.

12:00 p.m.

Troy University

ULM

Photo by: Cass Davis

Late Run, Missed Chances Sink Troy Against ULM

1/10/2013 2:52:00 PM | Basketball (W)

By: Matt Mays

Box Score

TROY, Ala. – The Troy women's basketball team was in a tight game, but a late run by ULM gave the Warhawks a 75-69 win on Thursday afternoon at Trojan Arena. The game marked the first of the season on the Sun Belt Network.

Troy (3-12, 0-6) led with 4:00 to go by a score of 62-61, but ULM then went on a 7-0 run over three minutes that gave the Warhawks a 68-62 lead that they wouldn't give up.

Joanna Harden led the way for the Trojans with a career-high 24 points while Sophie Kleeman was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field and scored a season-high 16 points. Dominique Ross pulled down 10 rebounds, a career-high.

Troy held ULM (3-12, 1-5) without a field goal for eight minutes in the second half, but the Trojans managed just one themselves over that span and lost what turned into a free throw battle.

“I think a big part of this was a lot of missed free throws and lot of missed opportunities when we had numbers coming down the floor,” Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said.

Troy shot 67.6 percent (21-of-31) from the free throw line while ULM shot 76.7 percent (23-of-30). Nine of Troy's 10 misses from the line came during the second half while the game was within one or two possessions.

The Trojans shot 30.4 percent (21-of-69) overall with the Warhawks shooting 36.9 percent (24-of-65).

Elexar Tugler had 13 points to pace five Warhawks in double figures. Christina Gray led ULM with 10 rebounds as the Warhawks outscored Troy in the paint, 38-14.

Troy shot just 25.0 percent (6-of-24) from deep, including a 3-of-15 clip in the first half, but a late flurry by Ashley Beverly-Kelley gave Troy the halftime lead, 33-32.

The true freshman, who was scoreless for the first 19:30 and finished with eight points, drained a triple with 30 seconds to go to cut the lead to one at 32-21. She then stripped a Warhawk player at midcourt and broke away for a layup with 20 seconds to go.

The loss for Troy marks five straight and the win for ULM snaps a six-game losing streak.

“We've got to stay positive, we can't loss enthusiasm and we've got to come to practice every day motivated to get better,” Rigby said.

The Trojans return to the floor on Wednesday when they travel to take on Florida Atlantic at 6:00 p.m.

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