Troy University Athletics
Trojans Look For Fifth Consecutive Victory
1/9/2009 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
TROY, Ala. - The Troy University women's basketball team returns to action Saturday night in search of their fifth consecutive victory, hosting the University of Louisiana-Lafayette at Trojan Arena.
Troy (7-7, 2-2), in the midst of a four-game winning streak and a three-game homestand, has matched their longest winning streak in three seasons. The last time the Trojans won four games in row was during the 2006 season, a stretch that ran from November 12 until November 21 of that season. It is the longest since a six-game winning streak by the Trojans during the 2004-05 season, a stretch that ran from January 27 until February 12.
The Trojans will also be looking to match their best 15-game start to a season since the 2000-01 season. During that season, as well as last season and the 2006-07 season, the Trojans started the season off with identical 8-7 records. Before that, the best 15-game stretch to start a season happened during the 1997-98 season in which Troy started off 11-4 en route to Mid-Continent Conference championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The Trojans find themselves tied for second place in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference with WKU, a team that that defeated Troy earlier this season in Bowling Green, and two games behind division-leading Middle Tennessee. When the Trojans hit the floor Saturday night, they will be playing a team that has dropped its last two games and will enter the game with a record of 3-12 overall and 0-4 in conference play.
Troy understands it has to protect its home floor in order to win in the conference, and be able to host a home playoff game in the postseason conference tournament. Saturday night's game marks the final game of a three-game homestand that has been productive for Troy with wins over FIU and Florida Atlantic.
"I am grateful to get through it," Troy coach Michael Murphy said after his team's hard fought victory over Florida Atlantic Tuesday night. "This game gets us to .500 in the league, and if you want to host a home playoff game you have to take care of business on your home floor. That is what our focus was and is."
With the 2-2 start in conference play to start the season, the Trojans are off to their best start since joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2005. The previous three seasons, the Trojans opened the season with identical 1-3 records. With a victory, the Trojans will be able to stay tied for second place in the East Division heading into two tough road games at South Alabama and Louisiana-Monroe next week.
But first things first, Troy must focus on Louisiana-Lafayette Saturday night and Murphy will look to his team's poise under pressure.
"What we do best is keep our poise," Murphy said. "We tend to understand what it means for that particular possession to do something good - whether it be at the free throw line or pick up a rebound to prevent our opponent from getting a second shot. I think some of that is experience and I think some of it is the way we practice, but the girls do a great job of not going into panic mode when the game gets close.
"Basketball is the type of sport where you are going to have ebbs and flows, that is just the kind of game it is. You are going to have nights when you shoot the ball well and nights where you don't, and its going to happen in game."
During the Trojans four-game winning streak, they have relied on hot-shooting and tenacious defense to pull out the victories. Over the four-game span, the Trojans are averaging nearly 67 points while their opponents are being held to just 57 points per game. In three of the four games, Troy has not allowed their opponents to score more than 60 points - the lone exception - Montana State, who scored 78 in an overtime game.
Troy is also shooting 42 percent from the floor, while holding their opponents to 34.5 percent shooting. The three-point shooting defense has been even tougher for Troy over the span, holding opponents to just 27.3 percent from beyond the arc.
The Trojans are also relying on the scoring ability of senior Kylie Morrissy, a Preseason Third-Team All-Sun Belt selection. She is averaging over 18 points per game over her last nine games, and is averaging a team-high 16.4 points per game this season. She led the way for Troy against Florida Atlantic Tuesday night with 20 points after being knocked out of the game for three minutes following a collision in the first half. The senior has scored over 1,200 points, collected over 500 rebounds, dished out 200 assists and collected 100 steals for her career.
She is joined in double figures this season by sophomore Donette McNair, averaging 11.8 points and a team-leading 7.1 rebounds per game. They are the only two averaging in double figures for the Trojans this season, although sophomore Alyce Shearing is averaging 7.9 points per game (9.8 in conference) this season.
The Trojans will look to that trio to lead them against Louisiana-Lafayette Saturday night, with tip-off set for 5:15 pm at Trojan Arena. The game will air LIVE on WTBF-94.7 FM with Buddy Johnson providing the play-by-play action.
