Troy University Athletics
Trojans Top UCF 71-50
2/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
TROY, Ala. - Sophomore Valensia Hairston came off the bench to give the Troy University women's basketball team its first lead over UCF, then went on to finish with a career-high 23 points and 12 rebounds to help the Trojans defeat the Atlantic Sun champion 71-50 on Thursday. The win clinched a spot in the next month's A-Sun tournament for the Trojans.
Hairston led the Trojans in both points and rebounds. Laura Lee Holman finished with 17 points, and Amy Lewis and Alecia Jones added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Audrey Muse finished with 10 rebounds, and Kerri Fiehrer finished with five assists and no turnovers.
Takira Allen led UCF with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Allen also scored her 1,000th career point in the process.
The Trojans (11-13, 10-7 A-Sun) and Golden Knights were knotted at five when Hairston came in to knock down a jump shot in the paint to put Troy up 7-5 with 14:26 left in the first half. The teams traded leads twice, and UCF (17-8, 15-3 A-Sun) went back up 10-9 on a three by Shayla Smith with 13:05 left in the half.
Threes on back-to-back trips by Hairston and Holman sparked a 10-0 run by Troy that gave the Trojans a 19-10 lead with 9:12 remaining in the first period.
UCF cut Troy's lead to 27-22 with 2:37 left, then Troy went on a 8-0 run to end the half, taking a 35-22 lead into the break.
The Trojans scored the first four points of the second half to extend their lead to 15 at 37-22 with 17:39 left. Troy maintained a double-digit lead until UCF cut its deficit to nine at 44-35 with 12 minutes remaining. Troy responded with a 15-2 run to take a 59-37 lead with 8:44 on the clock.
Troy led by as many as 23 on its way to the win.
The Trojans shot 29-of-66 (43.6 percent), finishing 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) from three-point range. Troy finished 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) from the free-throw line.
UCF shot 18-of-50 (36.0 percent) from the floor, including 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) from behind the arc. The Golden Knights shot 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) from the charity stripe.
The Trojans held a 40-33 advantage on the boards, and they finished with 19 assists compared to just nine turnovers. The Trojans converted 12 UCF turnovers into 16 points and grabbed seven steals.
"This was a great team win for us," said Troy head Michael Murphy. "We played great team defense, had balanced scoring, and Valensia came off the bench to have a tremendous game for us."
With the win, the Trojans move into a tie for third with Lipscomb, Troy is just one-half game behind second-place Georgia State, who the Trojans host in their regular-season finale on March 5.
The Trojans return to action on Saturday at 7 p.m. when they host FAU.
