Troy University Athletics
Trojans Fall To ULM Wednesday
12/31/2009 4:15:00 AM | Basketball (W)
MONROE, La. - After falling behind by as many as 15 points in the second half, the Troy Trojans last shot rimmed out at the buzzer as they fell to ULM 69-67 in Sun Belt Conference action Wednesday night.
After tying the game at 67 with just 4.9 second to play, ULM's Sannisha Williams went to line after being fouled on a lay-up attempt. She was able to connect on both free throws to give ULM (7-6, 1-2 Sun Belt) a 69-67 lead.
Kirsten Smith took the inbounds pass from Sophie Kleeman and made her way up the court quickly, beating two defenders along the way. She was able to find Brittnie Davis for a wide-open 3-pointer in front of the Troy bench and from NBA range, and the shot rimmed out at the buzzer.
“This was a tough loss for a variety of reasons,” Troy head coach Michael Murphy said. “I am grateful that the team didn't cave in, which I thought there was an opportunity there when we were down 15 in the second half. They fought back and put themselves in a position to win the game.”
Donette McNair led the Trojans with 17 points, pacing five players in double figures on the night. She was 8-of-13 from the floor, grabbed five rebounds, dished out four assists and recorded three steals. Alyce Shearing chipped in 16, all in the first half on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor. Davis added 12, Sarah McAppion 10 and Kleeman 10 in the loss.
ULM was led by Sannisha Williams with 14 points and nine rebounds, as she helped make Mona Martin the all-time winningest coach at ULM. Jesse Carrier chipped in 13, as she was 8-of-9 from the free throw line, while Larrie Williams added 11 and Elizabeth Torres 10 in the Warhawks' victory.
Troy shot 45.2 (28-of-62) percent from the floor and 33.3 (6-of-18) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot just 50 (shooting just 10 free throws in the loss) from the free throw line. They also forced 18 ULM turnovers while outscoring the Warhawks in the paint 34-32.
Meanwhile, ULM shot 40.4 (23-of-57) percent from the floor and just 11.1 (1-of-9) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 91.9 (22-of-24) percent from the free throw line, while outrebounding Troy 40-28.
“This loss was entirely our fault,” Murphy said. “We didn't do a good enough job on the boards and we didn't do a good enough job in our half court sets. Although people will look at the scoreboard and say wow what a great comeback - yes it was - but the bottom line is that we have to play better defense and rebound if we want to win, especially in close games like tonight.”
Troy (7-3, 1-1 Sun Belt) fell behind 49-34 with 12:34 left to play in the game after ULM's Larrie Williams connected on a running jumper in the lane. The run by ULM covered eight minutes of the contest, as they held Troy without a field goal during that span from the last two minutes of the first half to the first six minutes of the second half.
The Trojans continued to fight back, but ULM did not relent their double-digit lead until Kleeman trimmed the deficit to 63-54 with just five minutes to play on a 3-pointer.
From there, the Trojans continued to make a run to get back into the contest to set the stage for the final shot. Davis connected on a jumper with 3:28 to play to trim the deficit to 63-56, before McAppion found a crease in the Warhawks defense for a lay-up to trim the lead to 63-58 with 2:36 to play.
After a pair of free throws by Priscilla Mbiandja pushed the lead back to seven, Davis hit a 3-pointer with 2:06 to play to trim the deficit to 65-61. The Trojans pulled within two on the next possession when McNair hit a lay-up to trim the deficit to 65-63 with 1:35 to play.
The Trojans tied the game with 58 seconds to play on a lay-up by Smith, before ULM took a 67-65 lead with 31 seconds to play in the contest on a pair of free throws by Carrier. Troy came back and tied the game at 67-all when McAppion drove the lane again, tying the game with just 14 seconds to play.
The Trojans return to action in the first of back-to-back home games against the University of Denver on Saturday night. The game will tip at 5:15 pm from Trojan Arena, with the pregame beginning at 5 pm on WTBF-94.7 FM. The game will be the first of four games in eight days for the Trojans.
After tying the game at 67 with just 4.9 second to play, ULM's Sannisha Williams went to line after being fouled on a lay-up attempt. She was able to connect on both free throws to give ULM (7-6, 1-2 Sun Belt) a 69-67 lead.
Kirsten Smith took the inbounds pass from Sophie Kleeman and made her way up the court quickly, beating two defenders along the way. She was able to find Brittnie Davis for a wide-open 3-pointer in front of the Troy bench and from NBA range, and the shot rimmed out at the buzzer.
“This was a tough loss for a variety of reasons,” Troy head coach Michael Murphy said. “I am grateful that the team didn't cave in, which I thought there was an opportunity there when we were down 15 in the second half. They fought back and put themselves in a position to win the game.”
Donette McNair led the Trojans with 17 points, pacing five players in double figures on the night. She was 8-of-13 from the floor, grabbed five rebounds, dished out four assists and recorded three steals. Alyce Shearing chipped in 16, all in the first half on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor. Davis added 12, Sarah McAppion 10 and Kleeman 10 in the loss.
ULM was led by Sannisha Williams with 14 points and nine rebounds, as she helped make Mona Martin the all-time winningest coach at ULM. Jesse Carrier chipped in 13, as she was 8-of-9 from the free throw line, while Larrie Williams added 11 and Elizabeth Torres 10 in the Warhawks' victory.
Troy shot 45.2 (28-of-62) percent from the floor and 33.3 (6-of-18) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot just 50 (shooting just 10 free throws in the loss) from the free throw line. They also forced 18 ULM turnovers while outscoring the Warhawks in the paint 34-32.
Meanwhile, ULM shot 40.4 (23-of-57) percent from the floor and just 11.1 (1-of-9) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 91.9 (22-of-24) percent from the free throw line, while outrebounding Troy 40-28.
“This loss was entirely our fault,” Murphy said. “We didn't do a good enough job on the boards and we didn't do a good enough job in our half court sets. Although people will look at the scoreboard and say wow what a great comeback - yes it was - but the bottom line is that we have to play better defense and rebound if we want to win, especially in close games like tonight.”
Troy (7-3, 1-1 Sun Belt) fell behind 49-34 with 12:34 left to play in the game after ULM's Larrie Williams connected on a running jumper in the lane. The run by ULM covered eight minutes of the contest, as they held Troy without a field goal during that span from the last two minutes of the first half to the first six minutes of the second half.
The Trojans continued to fight back, but ULM did not relent their double-digit lead until Kleeman trimmed the deficit to 63-54 with just five minutes to play on a 3-pointer.
From there, the Trojans continued to make a run to get back into the contest to set the stage for the final shot. Davis connected on a jumper with 3:28 to play to trim the deficit to 63-56, before McAppion found a crease in the Warhawks defense for a lay-up to trim the lead to 63-58 with 2:36 to play.
After a pair of free throws by Priscilla Mbiandja pushed the lead back to seven, Davis hit a 3-pointer with 2:06 to play to trim the deficit to 65-61. The Trojans pulled within two on the next possession when McNair hit a lay-up to trim the deficit to 65-63 with 1:35 to play.
The Trojans tied the game with 58 seconds to play on a lay-up by Smith, before ULM took a 67-65 lead with 31 seconds to play in the contest on a pair of free throws by Carrier. Troy came back and tied the game at 67-all when McAppion drove the lane again, tying the game with just 14 seconds to play.
The Trojans return to action in the first of back-to-back home games against the University of Denver on Saturday night. The game will tip at 5:15 pm from Trojan Arena, with the pregame beginning at 5 pm on WTBF-94.7 FM. The game will be the first of four games in eight days for the Trojans.
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