Troy University Athletics
Trojans Earn Home Game in Tournament
2/25/2009 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
** Due to travel, this release was unable to be posted following the game; but the following is the full release from the Trojans victory Wednesday night. **
LAFAYETTE, La. - The Troy women's basketball program knew going into Wednesday night's game against Louisiana-Lafayette that they needed a win to keep momentum going into the Sun Belt Conference tournament, and give themselves a chance to host a home game.
They accomplished that goal.
The Trojans also knew that they had to get some help along the way. Either a loss by Florida Atlantic to WKU, a loss by New Orleans to UALR, or a loss by Arkansas State to North Texas; to solidify that home game.
That goal was accomplished.
Winning four consecutive road games in the conference is a tough feat in any conference. However, the Trojans would have to do so in an arena that they have never recorded a victory.
Goal accomplished.
The Trojans, however, were not looking at a chance to be tied for fifth place and an outside shot at a third or fourth seed heading into the final weekend. That would be accomplished with a Denver loss at ULM.
Goal accomplished.
The Trojans find themselves tied for fifth in the Sun Belt Conference standings heading into the final weekend of play, with a resounding 93-52 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette Wednesday night at Earl K. Long Gymnasium.
"We have been in conference tournament mode for the last two weeks," Troy head coach Michael Murphy said. "We have been in the mindset of playing one and done since the North Texas game on the road. We still have one more of those left, against South Alabama, on Saturday before the tournament starts."
Troy (14-13, 9-8 Sun Belt) set the tone early in the contest behind Alyce Shearing and Kylie Morrissy; who at two different points in the game were combining to outscore Louisiana-Lafayette on their own.
"Alyce shot the ball tremendously," Murphy said. "She was inside and outside all night, and it made the offense more efficient the way she was playing in the post."
Shearing, a junior, connected on three consecutive 3-pointers in the first half; while Morrissy had a quiet 11 points in the first half. The halftime score was 43-28 Trojans; with Morrissy and Shearing combining to score 28 points themselves in the opening 20 minutes of play.
"We talked about it before the game about the first five minutes," Murphy said. "We said we wanted to set the tempo in the first five minutes of the game, and then at halftime said the same thing about the first five minutes of the second half. We had good shot selection, got a lot of good looks and were able to knock down those shots."
Although the Trojans led by 15 at the break, they put the game away in the second half. Just one week after outscoring FIU 27-4 to open the second half; the Trojans did it again on Wednesday night. This time they outscored Louisiana-Lafayette 30-6 in the first 10:30 of the second half to run to a 73-34 advantage.
The lead grew to as many as 44 with 6:33 to play, before the Ragin' Cajuns were able to trim into that deficit when Murphy emptied his bench.
All 12 players played against Louisiana-Lafayette on Wednesday night, with 11 of those players recording points. Freshman Maggie Wright made the most of her opportunity, recording a career-high four points in five minutes of action.
For the fourth time this season, the Trojans accomplished another first in the history of the program.
"We did it," Murphy said in his postgame interview on the radio. "We accomplished another first. We had never won here, and we did that tonight. We won at North Texas, we won at FIU and we beat WKU for the first time this season. It just shows the strides that this program is making, and the direction that we are trying to go in."
Morrissy paced four Trojans in double figures for the night, connecting on 8-of-14 shots from the floor for a game-high 20 points. Shearing finished with 18 on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor; with 17 of those points coming in the first half. Brittnie Davis finished with 11, and Donette McNair finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
Senior Larelle Roper continues to climb the Troy all-time list and the Sun Belt all-time list, recording seven assists Wednesday night to give her 416 for her career.
Jasmine Barnes led Louisiana-Lafayette with 12 points, while the Ragin' Cajuns leading scorer - Alexis Green - was held to just 10 points.
Troy shot 54 (34-of-63) percent from the floor and 47.4 (9-of-19) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 72.7 (16-of-22) percent from the charity stripe, while outrebounding Louisiana-Lafayette 45-32.
Meanwhile, they held Louisiana-Lafayette to just 33.9 (19-of-56) percent shooting from the floor and 33.3 (3-of-9) percent shooting from beyond the arc.
The total number of points scored by the Trojans matches the output from the Spring Hill College game for the most points scored this season. It was also the worst home loss for the Ragin' Cajuns in the Errol Rogers era.
Troy returns to action Saturday night against South Alabama at Trojan Arena. The Lady Jags are currently tied with WKU for the third seed, just one game ahead of Troy heading into the final weekend.
The game is set to tip at 5:15 pm, and will be aired on WTBF-94.7 FM, with Buddy Johnson and Travis Jarome bringing you all of the play-by-play.
For ticket information, contact the Troy University Athletics Ticket Office at 1-877-878-WINS.
