Troy University Athletics
Trojans Fall to UALR at Trojan Arena
1/24/2008 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
TROY, Ala. - The Troy University Trojans lost their third consecutive Sun Belt Conference game, falling to Arkansas-Little Rock 55-41 at Trojan Arena Thursday night.
The Trojans struggled from the field throughout, especially from the free throw line in the first half. They were only able to connect on 40 (4-of-10) percent of their shots from the charity stripe, a statistic that did not go unnoticed by Troy head coach Michael Murphy.
“I really thought we did a good job of fighting back in the first half to give ourselves a chance with the lead,” Murphy said. “If we shot free throws better in the first half, and made that bunny at the end of the half than we are looking at a five or six point lead.”
The second half was a different story, as Arkansas-Little Rock opened the half on a 22-6 run to pull away from the Trojans.
“In the second half, you have to give the other team some credit. This team was picked to win the West, and right now they are co-leading that division along with Arkansas State and Louisiana-Monroe. So this was a good basketball team we were playing tonight.”
Troy (9-10, 2-6 SBC) trailed for much of the first half until a three-pointer from Laura Lee Holman on the right wing put the Trojans up 18-16. Arkansas-Little Rock tied the game at 18-18 on a lay-up by Kim Sitzmann with 4:42 remaining in the first half.
Troy jumped back in front on another Holman three-pointer with 4:27 remaining, taking a 21-18 lead.
“Laura Lee led us in scoring coming off the bench tonight,” Murphy said. “She was able to come back from a slight concussion suffered last week, and she was very heroic in her efforts tonight. I thought she had an outstanding game, and right now she is giving us the leadership which we need out of our seniors. We just need to get a little bit more out of everyone else, and once we get that we will be fine.”
After an Arkansas-Little Rock basket, the Trojans pushed the lead to 23-20 when Amy Lewis cut to the basket for a lay-up with just 3:51 remaining in the opening half.
Troy held the lead until reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week, Nikya Hughes connected on a lay-up with 1:49 remaining in the half to give Arkansas-Little Rock a 26-25 lead. The lead was pushed to 29-26 at the half when Hughes connected on a three-point play with 1:04 remaining before the intermission.
“We are disappointed in the loss,” Murphy said. “We had good preparation coming in to today's game, but we just came up a little bit short. We had some really good looks at the basket and it just didn't go in. Sometimes that is the way it goes, we just have to find a way to get through this. This has been two games in a row where we have gotten some pretty good shots, and they just haven't fallen for us.”
Troy shot 32.5 (13-of-40) percent from the floor, 33.3 (4-of-12) percent from behind the arc and 61.1 (11-of-18) percent from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Arkansas-Little Rock (14-5, 6-2 SBC) shot 45.8 (22-of-48) percent from the floor, just 21.4 (3-of-14) percent from behind the arc and 72.7 (8-of-11) percent from the free throw line.
The Trojans were led by Holman with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor, including connecting on 3-of-6 from behind the arc. Kylie Morrissy added 11 points and six rebounds in the loss.
“I was out for four days and I could tell in the game I was a little fatigued,” Holman said. “It is that time of the season where it is now or never. It is your senior year, and you kind of have that clock in the back of your head ticking and it is going to take a lot more than a concussion to keep me out.”
Arkansas-Little Rock was paced by Hughes with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Anshel Cooper added 13. Kim Sitzmann added 12, while Andrea Keys added 10 in the ULAR victory.
Troy returns to action Sunday afternoon against Louisiana-Lafayette.
“I feel like as a team we are right there for a break-through,” Holman said. “And there is no better time to break through than in February. I really feel like hitting this dry spell right now, when we things going than we will be a tough team to beat.”
The game is set to tip-off at 3 p.m. at Trojan Arena, and can be heard on WTBF-94.7 FM.
The Trojans struggled from the field throughout, especially from the free throw line in the first half. They were only able to connect on 40 (4-of-10) percent of their shots from the charity stripe, a statistic that did not go unnoticed by Troy head coach Michael Murphy.
“I really thought we did a good job of fighting back in the first half to give ourselves a chance with the lead,” Murphy said. “If we shot free throws better in the first half, and made that bunny at the end of the half than we are looking at a five or six point lead.”
The second half was a different story, as Arkansas-Little Rock opened the half on a 22-6 run to pull away from the Trojans.
“In the second half, you have to give the other team some credit. This team was picked to win the West, and right now they are co-leading that division along with Arkansas State and Louisiana-Monroe. So this was a good basketball team we were playing tonight.”
Troy (9-10, 2-6 SBC) trailed for much of the first half until a three-pointer from Laura Lee Holman on the right wing put the Trojans up 18-16. Arkansas-Little Rock tied the game at 18-18 on a lay-up by Kim Sitzmann with 4:42 remaining in the first half.
Troy jumped back in front on another Holman three-pointer with 4:27 remaining, taking a 21-18 lead.
“Laura Lee led us in scoring coming off the bench tonight,” Murphy said. “She was able to come back from a slight concussion suffered last week, and she was very heroic in her efforts tonight. I thought she had an outstanding game, and right now she is giving us the leadership which we need out of our seniors. We just need to get a little bit more out of everyone else, and once we get that we will be fine.”
After an Arkansas-Little Rock basket, the Trojans pushed the lead to 23-20 when Amy Lewis cut to the basket for a lay-up with just 3:51 remaining in the opening half.
Troy held the lead until reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week, Nikya Hughes connected on a lay-up with 1:49 remaining in the half to give Arkansas-Little Rock a 26-25 lead. The lead was pushed to 29-26 at the half when Hughes connected on a three-point play with 1:04 remaining before the intermission.
“We are disappointed in the loss,” Murphy said. “We had good preparation coming in to today's game, but we just came up a little bit short. We had some really good looks at the basket and it just didn't go in. Sometimes that is the way it goes, we just have to find a way to get through this. This has been two games in a row where we have gotten some pretty good shots, and they just haven't fallen for us.”
Troy shot 32.5 (13-of-40) percent from the floor, 33.3 (4-of-12) percent from behind the arc and 61.1 (11-of-18) percent from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Arkansas-Little Rock (14-5, 6-2 SBC) shot 45.8 (22-of-48) percent from the floor, just 21.4 (3-of-14) percent from behind the arc and 72.7 (8-of-11) percent from the free throw line.
The Trojans were led by Holman with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor, including connecting on 3-of-6 from behind the arc. Kylie Morrissy added 11 points and six rebounds in the loss.
“I was out for four days and I could tell in the game I was a little fatigued,” Holman said. “It is that time of the season where it is now or never. It is your senior year, and you kind of have that clock in the back of your head ticking and it is going to take a lot more than a concussion to keep me out.”
Arkansas-Little Rock was paced by Hughes with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Anshel Cooper added 13. Kim Sitzmann added 12, while Andrea Keys added 10 in the ULAR victory.
Troy returns to action Sunday afternoon against Louisiana-Lafayette.
“I feel like as a team we are right there for a break-through,” Holman said. “And there is no better time to break through than in February. I really feel like hitting this dry spell right now, when we things going than we will be a tough team to beat.”
The game is set to tip-off at 3 p.m. at Trojan Arena, and can be heard on WTBF-94.7 FM.
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