Troy University Athletics
Morrissy Leads Trojans In Defeat
2/10/2008 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
"I am really proud of our effort tonight," Troy head coach Michael Murphy said. We did a great job of rebounding, and you can't rebound the basketball if you don't play hard. We are just not getting the breaks we need to get in order to win the games."
Troy (10-14, 3-10 SBC) trailed 62-55 with 5:45 left in the game, until senior Audrey Muse connected on her first three-pointer of the season to trim the lead to 62-58. Laura Lee Holman trimmed the lead to two, 62-60 with 4:56 remaining. The score stayed that way for until Amanda Leonard drained a three-pointer with 3:04 remaining in the contest.
The Trojans were able to trim the lead to 65-62 with 2:34 remaining in the contest when junior point guard Larelle Roper found an opening in the Lady Jags defense for an easy lay-up as the shot clock expired.
Following back-to-back steals, the Trojans' Kylie Morrissy connected on two free throws trimming the deficit to 65-64 with 1:33 remaining in the contest. The Trojans had a chance to take the lead with just 43.5 seconds remaining in the contest, however, a missed lay-up led to South Alabama (16-8, 7-6 SBC) retaining possession with just 31.1 seconds remaining.
After a Lady Jags timeout, Shakira Nettles was able to convert on a six-foot jumper from the baseline with just 15.8 seconds remaining in the contest and one second left on the shot clock.
The Trojans called a timeout with 13.1 seconds remaining, but were unable to get a three-point attempt away, instead having to go inside to Morrissy. She was fouled, and hit the subsequent free throws to trim the margin to 67-66 with just 3.5 seconds remaining.
"We have lost our last six conference games by six points or less," Murphy said. "The last four games we have lost by a combined 12 points. I appreciate the hard work and effort in practice, and the girls really have an upbeat attitude. We just need to continue to work hard and persevere through this, and we will."
The only downside to the game for the Trojans were the amount of turnovers.
"When you shoot the ball as well as we did tonight, you cannot have a lot of turnovers," Murphy said. "We turned the ball over 21 times tonight, and you can't expect to win the basketball game when you turn the ball over that many times."
The first half saw both teams use runs to pull ahead of the other in the first 20 minutes of the Sun Belt Conference match-up.
After falling behind 31-18, the Trojans went on a 15-4 run to close the half and pull within 35-33 at the intermission.
The run started when Zena Lawrence connected on a lay-up after getting two
After a South Alabama lay-up put the Lady Jags up 33-22, the Trojans answered with a Morrissy jumper before Nettles put
Danielle Realph trimmed the lead to single digits with a 12-footer to trim the lead to 35-26 with 2:14 remaining in the half, followed by a tip-in by Morrissy with 1:39 remaining to trim the lead to 35-28.
Senior Amy Lewis connected on a three-pointer from the right corner to trim the deficit even further, to 35-31 with just 47 seconds to play.
Morrissy led the Trojans with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor, and 7-of-8 shooting from the free throw line. Realph added 12 off the bench, while Muse added 10 points and six rebounds. Meanwhile, Nettles posted a game-high 20 points for
The Trojans return to action Thursday night against
