Troy University Athletics
Troy De-Claws Lady Bears
11/28/2009 3:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
ATLANTA - Defend, rebound and make free throws.
That has been the speech that Troy head coach Michael Murphy has preached since day one of the 2009-10 season.
That speech paid dividends on Friday night, as the Trojans did all three aspects and came away with a hard-fought 60-54 victory over Morgan State in the opening round of the Georgia State Thanksgiving Tournament.
"We talk about it all the time," Murphy said. "If you defend, rebound and make free throws then you are giving yourself a chance to win. If you are defending and you are rebounding the basketball, that will allow you to compensate for your mistakes offensively."
Troy was down early in the contest, trailing 10-3 in the early stages of the contest, before battling back throughout the final 16 minutes. They were held to just 30 (6-of-20) percent from the floor and 12.5 (1-of-8) percent from beyond the arc.
"This by far was the worst half of basketball we have played all year," Murphy said. "Some of that goes to Morgan State as they were the ones out guarding us, but we just did not come with the same work ethic we have all year in the first half."
Although the Trojans shot poorly in the first half, they were able to hang around and actually take a two-point late in the half. A jumper from Atlanta-native Jamesha Blake put the Trojans ahead with just 40 seconds to play, 21-19, before Morgan State ended the half with three consecutive points.
"To our credit we didn't cave in," Murphy said. "We got down real bad at the beginning of the half, and things weren't looking good at that point. We were able to battle back and ground it out to be able to go in at half only down by one, which I thought was huge."
The second half was a much different story for the Trojans, as they were down 26-21 just a minute into the final half. However, they were able to string together some baskets and took the lead for good at 32-31 with 11:49 to play in the game on a McNair lay-up, and they pushed that lead to as many as seven with 2:12 to play in the contest.
"We crawled out from under a hole," Murphy said. "I thought halftime was a critical point in the game, only going down by one and we came out offensively and played with some fluidity."
The second half belonged to junior Donette McNair, who finished the game with 19 points and 19 rebounds. The rebounding total is a new career-high for McNair and sets a new Division I record for the Trojans, breaking the previous record held by Thea Herring (2003) and Alecia Jones (2005). It is the second double-double in three games for McNair and the eighth of her collegiate career.
"Coach [Murphy] told me coming into this year that I will be quicker than the next post," McNair said. "That comes from my size, being smaller and quicker. I don't know how I rebound the ball the way I do, I guess I just want the ball better. It is hard to explain, I just don't know what to say about other than I just want to get to the ball."
McNair paced three Trojans in double figures on the night as Brittnie Davis added 13 and Tenia Manuel 10 in the victory. Meanwhile, Alyce Shearing added eight points and seven rebounds, while Kirsten Smith added nine rebounds before fouling out in the second half.
"Donette played a C-game even though it is hard to say that," Murphy said. "If she would have came ready to play she could have had 30 and 25. I know it sounds gawdy, but it could have been that way because when she was focused they couldn't guard her. Manuel struggled in the first half, but she made some critical plays from the free throw line in the final five minutes."
The Trojans were held to 34.8 (16-of-46) percent shooting from the floor and 16.7 (3-of-18) percent from beyond in the arc, but did shoot 73.5 (25-of-34) percent from the charity stripe. They did outrebound Morgan State 54-34, and assisted on half of their baskets scored Friday night.
"One thing we talk about all the time is free throws," Murphy said. "When we shoot free throws in practice we talk about how they are game winners. Every free throw you shoot is a game winner. If you are 9-for-10 that one miss could be huge, or whether you are 1-for-10, that make could be the difference. I think some of that purpose we have in practice, helped us down the stretch against Morgan State."
Meanwhile, Morgan State was led by Corin Adams with 18 points as she became the school's all-time leading scorer. The Lady Bears shot just 29.2 (21-of-72) percent from the floor and 21.4 (6-of-28) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot just 54.5 (6-of-11) percent from the charity stripe.
Troy advances to the championship game of the Georgia State Thanksgiving Tournament where they will take on the host Panthers at 4 pm (EST) Saturday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena. The game be heard on WTBF-970 AM 15 minutes prior to tip.
