Troy University Athletics
Troy Falls To Georgia Tech, 73-49
11/14/2008 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
ATLANTA - Seniors Brittnie Davis and Larelle Roper led Troy with 10 points each, however, the Trojans fell in their season-opener at Georgia Tech, 73-49, in non-conference action at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
"I thought for the most part we competed really hard," Troy coach Michael Murphy said. "I was really pleased with our half court defense. The stuff we practiced really transferred into the game and for that I was very encouraged. I'm pleased with our half court defense."
Despite the starting five of the Trojans scoring 42 points on the night and scoring 13 of their 15 baskets off of assists, Troy was unable to overcome 27 offensive rebounds by Georgia Tech (1-0) that were converted into 17 second-chance points. Troy was also unable to overcome their 25 turnovers, which led to 24 points for Georgia Tech on Friday night.
"We had a couple of breakdowns but when you play an ACC team like Georgia Tech this early in the season that's going to happen," Murphy said. "I was a little disappointed in the way we handled their pressure, they pressured us from the tip to the horn."
The Trojans did convert 17 second-chance points of their own. Troy also forced 21 turnovers by a Georgia Tech team that received an at-large berth into last season's NCAA Women's Basketball National Championships, and was picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) this season.
"I think there are a lot of positives to take from this game and I'm really excited for the rest of the season because we played such a tough opponent to open the season with seven freshman on the roster," Murphy said. "And all seven freshman to play and be competitive in the game and at some times control the pace of the game was very encouraging."
After falling behind by 10 at the half, Troy trimmed the lead to 41-32 with 17:31 remaining in the contest on a Roper 3-pointer before they were able to trim the lead even further. The Trojans cut the deficit to 41-34 on a Danielle Realph jumper, off an assist from Davis, with 16:48 remaining in the contest. Following that basket, Georgia Tech went on an 18-4 run over the next 6:06 to push the lead to 59-38.
"They were just a little bit bigger, a little bit more athletic and we will find a way to combat that as the season goes on," Murphy said. "For the most part I am really encouraged from what I saw, I am encouraged about our willingness to fight, I was encouraged about our preparation from the last two days leading up to this game. I was encouraged about our defense from the half court and I think the offense will come. We just have to do a better job rebounding."
The Trojans were able to battle back from a first half deficit of eight in the first eight minutes of the contest to get a chance at Georgia Tech in the second half. A pair of free throws from Alyce Shearing trimmed the Georgia Tech lead to 16-11 with 8:49 remaining in the first half, before a jump shot from Kylie Morrissy trimmed the deficit to 16-13 with 8:18 remaining in the first half. Following a steal and layup by Georgia Tech, the Trojans trimmed the lead to 18-15 on a Shearing layup with 7:08 remaining in the opening stanza.
Georgia Tech went on a 7-0 run after Troy trimmed the lead to 21-17, pushing the lead to 28-17 before Roper connected on her first 3-pointer of the night with 3:51 remaining. Georgia Tech pushed the lead to 30-20 on a Deja Foster layup with 3:24, before Realph and Roper scored the next four points to trim the deficit to 30-24 with just 1:57 remaining in the opening half. The Yellow Jackets were able to push the halftime lead to 34-24 scoring the final four points of the first half.
Davis connected on 60 (3-of-5) percent of her shots from the floor and 75 (3-of-4) percent from the free throw line in the loss, while Roper connected on 66.7 (2-fo-3) percent from the floor and 100 (4-of-4) percent from the free throw line. She also connected on both of her 3-point field goal attempts in the loss. Realph added nine points and Shearing eight, while Sun Belt Conference Third Team Preseason pick Morrissy was held to just five points on 2-of-10 shooting from the floor on the night.
"All seven freshmen played," Murphy said. "Sarah McAppion did very well for her first collegiate game as a freshman and Kirsten Smith played really well as a freshman. Brittnie [Davis] and Larelle [Roper] carried us offensively for the entire game. Both were very solid with what they wanted to do. Danielle [Realph] was really good offensively in the first half."
Georgia Tech was led by Sasha Goodlet with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor, while Iasia Heminway added 15 for the Yellow Jackets.
"They are a very athletic team starting 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 across the front line," Murphy said. "Athletically I think they wore us down because of their constant pressure. They killed us on the glass. There were times when we had the position and they came flying over the top of us, and when that happens you just have to tip your hat to them."
The Trojans shot 32.6 (15-of-46) percent from the floor, 28.6 (4-of-14) percent from behind the arc and 71.4 (15-of-21) percent from the free throw line in the loss. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech shot 39.1 (27-of-69) percent from the floor, 37.5 (6-of-16) percent from the behind the arc and just 61.9 (13-of-21) percent from the free throw line.
"We are going to try to get healthy," Murphy said. "Aarika Howard and Tanae Kemp had surgery today. Brittnie [Davis] took a hard hit in the second half and we are very concerned about her health for the future. If we lose her for any extended period of time that's going to be a big issue because she is a warrior plain and simple."
The Trojans return to practice this week with exactly seven days before their next contest, also on the road out of conference. The Trojans return to action next Friday night, November 21, on the road against Austin Peay.
"We are going to continue to work on what we do," Murphy said. "We are going to look at the film and break it down. We are going to look forward to Austin Peay, that is the most important game on the schedule because it is the next one on the schedule. We've got seven days to get better at some things, fine tune some others and hopefully get people healthy, the dogs bark and the caravan moves on."
Troy plays their first home game of the season against Jacksonville State University on November 25 as part of a doubleheader at Trojan Arena.
