Troy University Athletics
Lewis, Trojans Hold Off Georgia Southern, 74-71
12/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
TROY, Ala. - After leading through most of the game, the Troy University women's basketball team had to rally to overcome a seven-point deficit midway through the second half to defeat Georgia Southern 74-71 in Trojan Arena on Tuesday. Amy Lewis led the Trojans with 21 points, and Audrey Muse added 18. Alecia Jones finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for the Trojans.
A put-back from Concella Henry gave Georgia Southern a 19-14 lead at the 8:20 mark in the first half. Just over 1:30 later, Lewis knocked down a three to put the Trojans on top 24-19. On that same play, Muse was fouled while jockeying for rebounding position. The Trojans were in the bonus, and Muse connected on both free throw attempts to cap a 12-0 run by the Trojans and put Troy on top, 26-19, with 6:43 left in the first half.
Dubose cut Troy's lead to four on the Eagles' next possession as she was fouled on as she shot a three and made all three free-throw attempts. On GSU's next trip down the floor Ashley Melson hit a layup to cut Troy's lead to two at 26-24 with 6:01 on the clock.
The Trojans scored the next 10 points to build a 36-24 lead with 2:18 left in the half. Kylie Morrissy came off the bench to knock down a three and a jump shot to make up the last five points of that run.
GSU was able to whittle Troy's lead down to six when a three from Melson brought the score to 38-32 with 10 seconds remaining, but Troy answered with a layup from Alecia Jones wit just one second left to take a 40-32 lead into the break.Lewis and Muse led the Trojans in the first half with 15 and 13 points, respectively. The Trojans shot 48 percent (15-of-31) from the floor, including a 5-of-10 (50 percent) effort from three-point range. After shooting just 2-of-11 (18 percent) from the floor in the game's first seven minutes, the Trojan offense heated up to shoot 13-of-20 (65 percent) through the rest of the first half.
Dubose led GSU with eight first-half points. The Eagles shot 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from the floor, including 4-of-10 (40 percent) from three-point range.
Georgia Southern opened the second half with a 10-2 run to tie the game at 42-42 with 16:54 left in the game.
A three from Lewis on Troy's next possession broke the tie, and a layup from Valensia Hairston put Troy up 47-42 with 14:25 left.
Georgia Southern responded with threes on consecutive trips from Tiffany Brown and Dubose, giving GSU a 48-47 lead. After a pair of free throws from Muse tied the game at 50, GSU went on a 7-0 run, capped by a three from Dubose with 10:05 to play that put GSU up 57-50.
Laura Lee Holman scored her first points of the game on Troy's next possession, and Santana Seay grabbed a steal as GSU inbounded the ball. Seay made a layup to cut GSU's advantage to 57-54 with 9:43 on the clock.
The Trojans could not close the gap to less than three until a three from Lewis tied the game at 66-66 with 3:41 to play.After a Georgia Southern basket, Laura Lee Holman evened the game at 68 with a jumper in the paint at the 2:56 mark, then hit one of two free throws 45 seconds later. Seay put the Trojans up three with 1:38 left when she hit a jumper, then Muse made the lead four on a free throw with 16 seconds remaining.
Newton pulled the Lady Eagles back to one with a three with eight seconds to play, but Holman knocked down a pair of free throws with five seconds left to provide the final cushion. A potentially tying three-point attempt by Tiffany Brown caromed off at the buzzer.
The play of our four and fives was worlds better than it was in the UCF tournament,” Troy head coach Michael Murphy said. Alecia Jones and Audrey Muse had great games, and we really improved at the post.
Santana Seay had a great game for her first start. She really played well.”
Seay finished with six points, six assists and five steals in her first start with the Trojans. Lewis and Muse finished with six and five assists, respectively, and of Troy's 26 field goals, 21 came off assists.
The Trojans shot 26-of-53 (49.1 percent) from the floor, including 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) from three-point range. The seven threes sets a new season high for the Trojans. We're shooting the ball well, and we're doing a great job of getting the ball to our shooters. We still need to improve on our rebounding, though. We can't give up 14 offensive rebounds and only get six.”
The Trojans will face another opponent from Georgia in their next game when they travel to Atlanta to play at Georgia Tech on Thursday at 11 a.m.
