Trojans Fall At Hot-Shooting Western Kentucky

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. ? The Troy University Trojans were unable to overcome a hot-shooting Western Kentucky squad, falling to the Sun Belt Conference East Division leaders 72-52 at E.A. Diddle Arena Thursday night.

“I thought we got four or five really good looks at the basket to start the game,” Troy head coach Michael Murphy said. “They came out of our offense throwing it inside and kicking it out, making good rotations and making the extra pass. I think once we got behind early, it took so much energy to catch up with the foul trouble we had in the first half, it was to tough to sustain anything.”

After trailing by as many as 25 points in the second half, the Trojans caught fire in a span of three minutes. Troy (10-15, 3-11 SBC) went on a run of scoring on seven-of-nine possessions; including three-pointers from Kylie Morrissy, Amy Lewis and Laura Lee Holman to trim the lead to 52-39 with 10:46 to play in the contest.

The three-pointer from Lewis with 11:30 to play in the contest, trimmed the lead to 52-36 and was the first basket of the game for the Trojans' leading scorer.

During that span, the Trojans held Western Kentucky (19-6, 12-1 SBC) without a field goal for over four minutes, allowing the Lady Toppers to only add to their lead from the free throw line. The Lady Toppers scored on 5-of-6 free throws during that span to extend their lead 57-39 with 8:40 to play in the contest.

Zena Lawrence trimmed the lead down to 16 with a lay-up with just over eight minutes remaining in the contest, before Western Kentucky's drought ended on a Charlotte Marshall lay-up with eight minutes remaining to push the lead to 59-41.

Although the Trojans made a run in the second half, it was tough to overcome the performance of Western Kentucky in the first. The Lady Toppers used a pair of runs to pull away from Troy in the opening half.

Western Kentucky opened the game on a 9-2 run, before the Trojans were able to pull within 12-8 with 11:30 remaining in the half. Morrissy ended the Lady Toppers run, and started the Troy run, with a running jumper just insider the paint with 13:23 remaining in the first half.

Larelle Roper was able to convert a three-point play after taking a feed from Lewis on the fastbreak. The junior point guard was able to stop on a dime, getting Dominique Duck to leave her feet and commit the foul with 13:06 to play in the opening half. After a three-pointer by Western Kentucky's Kenzie Rich, Morrissy converted one-of-two free throws with 11:30 to play, trimming the deficit to 12-8.

The Trojans couldn't pull any closer than four points in the first half, as Western Kentucky went on 11-2 run late in the first half to take a 29-15 lead with 4:27 to play in the opening half. The Lady Toppers lead was extended to as many as 17 as time expired in the opening 20 minutes of play.

“We had our starting point guard and our starting five player on the bench in the first half due to foul trouble,” Murphy said. “We had to have other people handling the basketball which causes fatigue, like Holman and Lewis, who are out there running around as much as they do on offense. That causes fatigue, and really we are a four-guard team and not a big basketball team.”

Troy shot 32.8 (20-of-61) percent from the floor and just 21.4 (6-of-28) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 54.5 (6-of-11) percent from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, Western Kentucky shot 43.1 (25-of-58) percent from the floor and 35.7 (5-of-14) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 70.8 (17-of-24) percent from the free throw line.

Crystal Kelly led Western Kentucky with 17 points and nine rebounds, while a trio of players added 10 points each ? Dominique Duck, Marshall and Amy McNear.

“Crystal Kelly is really good,” Murphy said. “She is definitely one of the premier players in the country, and she is just tough to guard. She puts a lot of pressure on the defense, on help-side defense and my big guards did the best they could to guard her. I will be happy when she graduates.”

Morrissy led Troy with 15 points, while Audrey Muse added 12 points. Lewis was held to five points, but she grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds in the loss while dishing out four assists.

The Trojans have dropped five consecutive games, with the four previous games being decided by a combined 12 points; including an overtime loss and a last-second tip-in.

The game was part of the WBCA's annual “Think Pink Pack the Gym for Breast Cancer Awareness” week. Western Kentucky donned their pink uniforms, while the Trojans wore pink shirts in warm-ups and each fan in attendance was given a pink t-shirt to wear during the game. The officials for the game even used pink whistles as part of the occasion.

The Trojans return to action Saturday night against the University of North Texas, in search of their first victory since a 63-54 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on January 27. The game is scheduled for 5:00 pm at The Super Pit, and is a rematch of a 73-62 Trojans victory back on January 3 at Trojan Arena.

Troy University Athletics

Trojans Fall At Hot-Shooting Western Kentucky

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