Troy University Athletics
Trojans Advance to Championship Game
12/28/2008 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
EDINBURG, Texas - Big time players make big time shots.
That has been the slogan that Troy head coach Michael Murphy has preached to his players since he has been at the helm of the women's basketball program.
And that is exactly what happened Sunday night in the opening round of the Battle at the Border Classic, hosted by the University of Texas-Pan American, when the Trojans battled adversity to come away with a hard-fought 82-78 overtime victory over Montana State University.
"I was pleased with the way we played," Murphy said. "Our bench came up big for us the entire game. This was a very good team we played tonight, they played for the Big Sky Conference championship last season, so this is a significant win."
Troy (4-7) led the entire game, except for the opening seconds of overtime, but had to come back from a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Montana State for the victory.
Leading 54-42 with 7:12 remaining in regulation, the Trojans withstood a 10-2 run from the Bobcats to hold a 56-52 lead with 4:22 remaining in regulation. A fastbtreak lay-up by Alyce Shearing off an assist from Jacklyn Selfe pushed the lead to 58-52 with 3:39 remaining.
After a lay-up by Montana State, the Trojans nailed back-to-back 3-pointers - both from Kylie Morrissy - to push the lead to 64-54 with 2:27 remaining. That set the stage for the final moments of regulation for both teams.
Montana State outscored Troy 11-2 over the next 2:09, trimming the Trojan lead to 66-65 with just 18.2 seconds remaining in regulation.
Following a pair of turnovers, Selfe drained a pair of free throws with just 4.3 seconds remaining to give Troy an seemingly 68-65 victory. However, following a timeout, Lyndi Seidensticker took the inbounds pass and dribbled up the left side of the court. She heaved a 3-pointer from 35-feet away that found the bottom of the net as the buzzer sounded, sending the game to overtime.
"It really showed a lot of class to be able to come back in overtime," Murphy said. "To win the game in overtime the way did showed that, the way we were able to come back after we thought we had the game won in regulation. They came down and made a big a shot, and for us to be able to come back in overtime showed something tonight."
After Montana State (5-6) opened the overtime period up with a pair of free throws to take a 70-68 lead, Troy scored the next seven points to run out to a 75-70 advantage with 2:44 to play in the contest. The run started when Brittnie Davis connected on a 3-pointer from the corner with four minutes remaining to give Troy a lead they would hold, 71-70. The lead was pushed to 73-70 on a pair of free throws from Shearing, and the run ended with a Kirsten Smith lay-up over two defenders with 2:44 to play.
The two teams traded free throws over the next couple of possessions, with Troy holding a 78-74 lead until Montana State's Eric Perry drove coast-to-coast to trim the lead to 78-76 with 1:51 remaining in the game.
Morrissy was fouled on the next possession by Montana State, and the senior promptly stepped to the line and drained a pair of free throws for an 80-76 lead with 1:27 remaining. The lead was trimmed to 80-78 with just 48.9 seconds remaining when Perry drained a pair of free throws for Montana State.
Following a turnover, Montana State's Anne Phippard missed a wide-open 3-pointer from the right wing with just 7.5 seconds remaining. Selfe battled Monatana State's Jenny Heringer for the rebound and was able to pull the ball down with her right hand while being fouled.
Selfe walked the length of the court with under eight seconds to play in the contest, stepped to the line and drained a pair of free throws to give the Trojans the four-point victory.
Morrissy led four Trojans in double figures with 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor, 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and 5-of-9 from the free throw line. Larelle Roper added a career-high 11 points and five assists. Shearing and Davis each added 10 points in the victory. Meanwhile, Selfe came off the bench to add nine points, while fellow freshman Sarah McAppion added seven of the 28 Troy bench points.
Troy shot 41.7 (25-of-60) percent from the floor, 45.5 (10-of-22) percent from beyond the arc and 75.9 (22-of-29) percent from the free throw line. They shot an astounding 58.3 (14-of-24) percent from the floor and 71.4 (5-of-7) percent from beyond the arc.
Montana State was led by Perry with 14 points, while a trio of players added 11 in the loss. Troy held Montana State to just 35.8 (24-of-67) percent from the floor and 37.9 (11-of-29) percent from beyond the arc.
Troy will play UT-Pan American in the championship game Monday night at 7 pm at the UTPA Fieldhouse. The Lady Broncs defeated the University of Albany (NY) 54-49 in the opening game of the tournament, behind 13 points from Rose Esther Jones and 12 from Aleeya Grigsby.
