Troy University Athletics
Trojans fall to Western Kentucky at home
12/22/2007 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
TROY, Ala. - The Troy Trojans and the Lady Toppers from Western Kentucky were locked in a heavyweight battle down to the wire.
The Lady Toppers got the final knockout punch, enabling them to escape with a hard-fought 80-74 victory over Troy Saturday evening at Trojan Arena.
“This game was going to be like a heavyweight fight,” Troy head coach Michael Murphy said. “It was going to go the final bell and be punch-for-punch. We just came up a couple of possessions short. I can't fault my team's effort, but once again proud of their effort.”
Despite a career-high 29 points from senior guard Amy Lewis, the Trojans were unable to find an answer for Western Kentucky senior forward Crystal Kelly. The senior scored a season-high and tied a career-high with 38 points in the victory. She also broke the Sun Belt Conference record for all-time scoring in the game.
“Crystal (Kelly) is such a dominate force in this league,” Murphy said. “She is the best player I think this league has ever seen and this league has seen a bunch of good ones. The league's all-time leading scorer speaks for itself, and will be happy when she graduates and moves on to the WNBA and has a great career. She was too much for us down low and we tried a couple of different things.”
The game saw 12 lead changes and the game was tied at six different occasions. The two teams also shot extremely well as both shot 50 percent from the floor and 50 percent or better from behind the arc.
“I really thought we gave a great effort against a team that is really the class of the league,” Murphy said. “As a unit, offensively I thought we did a great job of putting ourselves in a position to succeed. We didn't get in a hurry offensively and that is something we worked really hard on the last two days.
That has been our problem the last few games, getting in a hurry offensively. Today we played at the pace we wanted to play offensively and that is reflected in our shooting percentages.”
After trailing 3-0 in the first two minutes of the game, the Trojans outscored Western Kentucky 23-14 over the next 23-14 to take a 23-17 lead with 8:03 left to play in the first half. They held that lead until Kenzie Rich hit a lay-up on a fastbreak for Western Kentucky to put the Lady Toppers up 26-25 with 4:06 to play.
The lead was short-lived for Western Kentucky, as Kylie Morrissy knocked down a three-pointer as she was falling to the floor on a foul by Arnika Brown. Morrissy knocked down the subsequent free throw to put Troy up 29-26 with 3:47 remaining in the opening half. The Lady Toppers took the lead back at 30-29 when Amy McNear converted a lay-up with 2:37 to play, following a Trojan turnover.
After the McNear basket gave the Lady Toppers the lead, the two teams traded the lead for the remainder of the half until Lewis knocked down a pair of free throws with 39 seconds to play; giving Troy a 35-34 lead at the half.
The two teams went back and forth in second half, with the Trojans falling behind by as many as eight points with six minutes to play. Troy was able to trim the deficit to three, 75-72, on a Lewis three-pointer with 45 seconds to play. However, Western Kentucky converted 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Western Kentucky (7-5, 1-0 SBC) shot 50 (26-of-52) percent from the floor, while connecting on 50 (2-of-4) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 78.8 (26-of-33) percent of their free throws.
Meanwhile, Troy (6-5, 0-2 SBC) shot 50 (28-of-56) percent from the floor and 60 (9-of-15) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 81.8 (9-of-11) percent from the free throw line.
Dominique Duck was the only other Lady Topper in double figures, scoring 12 points.
Morrissy added 20 points, while Laura Lee Holman added 11 in the loss.
The Trojans will be off for four days until they leave for a December 29 game against Fairfield in the Fordham Holiday Tournament. Tip-off is set for 1 pm in New York.
The Lady Toppers got the final knockout punch, enabling them to escape with a hard-fought 80-74 victory over Troy Saturday evening at Trojan Arena.
“This game was going to be like a heavyweight fight,” Troy head coach Michael Murphy said. “It was going to go the final bell and be punch-for-punch. We just came up a couple of possessions short. I can't fault my team's effort, but once again proud of their effort.”
Despite a career-high 29 points from senior guard Amy Lewis, the Trojans were unable to find an answer for Western Kentucky senior forward Crystal Kelly. The senior scored a season-high and tied a career-high with 38 points in the victory. She also broke the Sun Belt Conference record for all-time scoring in the game.
“Crystal (Kelly) is such a dominate force in this league,” Murphy said. “She is the best player I think this league has ever seen and this league has seen a bunch of good ones. The league's all-time leading scorer speaks for itself, and will be happy when she graduates and moves on to the WNBA and has a great career. She was too much for us down low and we tried a couple of different things.”
The game saw 12 lead changes and the game was tied at six different occasions. The two teams also shot extremely well as both shot 50 percent from the floor and 50 percent or better from behind the arc.
“I really thought we gave a great effort against a team that is really the class of the league,” Murphy said. “As a unit, offensively I thought we did a great job of putting ourselves in a position to succeed. We didn't get in a hurry offensively and that is something we worked really hard on the last two days.
That has been our problem the last few games, getting in a hurry offensively. Today we played at the pace we wanted to play offensively and that is reflected in our shooting percentages.”
After trailing 3-0 in the first two minutes of the game, the Trojans outscored Western Kentucky 23-14 over the next 23-14 to take a 23-17 lead with 8:03 left to play in the first half. They held that lead until Kenzie Rich hit a lay-up on a fastbreak for Western Kentucky to put the Lady Toppers up 26-25 with 4:06 to play.
The lead was short-lived for Western Kentucky, as Kylie Morrissy knocked down a three-pointer as she was falling to the floor on a foul by Arnika Brown. Morrissy knocked down the subsequent free throw to put Troy up 29-26 with 3:47 remaining in the opening half. The Lady Toppers took the lead back at 30-29 when Amy McNear converted a lay-up with 2:37 to play, following a Trojan turnover.
After the McNear basket gave the Lady Toppers the lead, the two teams traded the lead for the remainder of the half until Lewis knocked down a pair of free throws with 39 seconds to play; giving Troy a 35-34 lead at the half.
The two teams went back and forth in second half, with the Trojans falling behind by as many as eight points with six minutes to play. Troy was able to trim the deficit to three, 75-72, on a Lewis three-pointer with 45 seconds to play. However, Western Kentucky converted 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Western Kentucky (7-5, 1-0 SBC) shot 50 (26-of-52) percent from the floor, while connecting on 50 (2-of-4) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 78.8 (26-of-33) percent of their free throws.
Meanwhile, Troy (6-5, 0-2 SBC) shot 50 (28-of-56) percent from the floor and 60 (9-of-15) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 81.8 (9-of-11) percent from the free throw line.
Dominique Duck was the only other Lady Topper in double figures, scoring 12 points.
Morrissy added 20 points, while Laura Lee Holman added 11 in the loss.
The Trojans will be off for four days until they leave for a December 29 game against Fairfield in the Fordham Holiday Tournament. Tip-off is set for 1 pm in New York.
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