Troy University Athletics
Troy Loses Heartbreaker To Denver
1/3/2010 1:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
TROY, Ala. - The Troy Trojans women's basketball team suffered their second consecutive loss, falling to the University of Denver 60-58 in the waning seconds of Sun Belt Conference play Saturday night at Trojan Arena.
“This was a tough loss,” Troy head coach Michael Murphy said. “They are all tough losses when you play in conference play.”
Troy (7-4, 1-2 Sun Belt) led most of the contest until the final 2:29 when Denver's Britteni Rice connected on a 3-pointer to give the Pioneers a 54-51 lead. After Sophie Kleeman pulled the Trojans to within a point, 54-53, with 2:08 to play in the contest, Denver pushed the lead to 56-53 behind a Rice lay-up. She hit the subsequent free throw to push the lead to 57-53.
Donette McNair hit a lay-up with 1:27 to play to trim the deficit to 57-55, before Kaetlyn Murdoch drained a pair of free throws for Denver (9-5, 4-0 Sun Belt) for a 59-55 Pioneer lead. The lead was pushed to 60-58 when the Trojans, for the second consecutive game had a chance to tie or win the game at the buzzer.
Sarah McAppion drove the basket but was short on a left-hand lay-up, followed by a missed 3-pointer by Brittnie Davis which resulted in a scrum in front of the basket. McNair came away with the ball but her desperation shot came after the buzzer for the Trojans.
“We just didn't defend well down the stretch,” Murphy said. “We didn't rebound well down the stretch and we lost site of (Britteni) Rice at the end of the game. We just didn't defend well or rebound well, and that is the bottom line.”
Troy led by as many 11 in the second half, and held Rice in check for most of the contest until the final minutes.
“We have to be tougher down the stretch,” Murphy said. “We were playing well for most of the game until down the stretch because we were doing the things we needed to in order to win the game.”
The Trojans and Denver battled for the first 20 minutes, with Troy using six offensive fouls by Denver to take a three-point lead at the intermission. The Pioneers held their largest lead of the game by four just 1:45 into the game, while Troy's biggest lead came with 9:18 left to play in the half as they built a six-point advantage.
After trailing early in the contest, freshman Cortney Hawkins provided a spark off the bench when she connected on two lay-ups to held the Trojans take a 10-8 lead. Her first shot connected with 12:31 to play to trim the deficit to 8-6, and her steal and lay-up with 10:21 to play gave the Trojans a 10-8 lead.
Her two lay-ups started a 10-0 run that gave Troy a 14-8 lead with 9:18 to play in the half, and consisted of baskets by McAppion and Alyce Shearing. Denver was able to come back and tie the game at 17-all with 5:17 to play in the half, before Troy took a 20-17 lead on a Kleeman 3-pointer with 4:10 left to play in the half.
Shearing added to the lead when she hit a 3-pointer with 2:28 to play, giving Troy a 23-19 lead and the Trojans held onto for the lead at intermission. Laura Palmere hit a 3-pointer for Denver with 1:20 left to play in the half, before McNair hit a lay-up with seven seconds remaining for the final points of the half.
Palmere missed a jumper for Denver that would have trimmed the lead to a single digit at the break, and the Pioneers could not come up with the rebound.
McAppion led Troy with 14 points on 50 (6-of-12) percent shooting from the floor, while connecting on a pair of 3-pointers. Shearing
Troy shot 47.8 (22-of-46) percent from the floor, 38.9 (7-of-11) percent from beyond the arc and shot 63.6 percent from the free throw line while attempting just 11 free throws. The Trojans also forced 19 Denver turnovers.
Meanwhile, Rice led Denver with 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and 7-of-9 shooting from the free throw line. Brianna Culberson added 15 and Murdoch 14 for Denver. The Pioneers, winners of eight consecutive games, shot 47.4 (18-of-38) percent from the floor and 82.6 (19-of-23) percent from the free throw line.
The Trojans return to action Monday night against Army at Trojan Arena. The game will tip at 7 pm, with the pre-game show beginning at 6:45 pm on WTBF-94.7 FM. The game will also be broadcast live on Trojan Gamepass, and will have live stats available. added 11 and McNair 10 in the loss for the Trojans.
“This was a tough loss,” Troy head coach Michael Murphy said. “They are all tough losses when you play in conference play.”
Troy (7-4, 1-2 Sun Belt) led most of the contest until the final 2:29 when Denver's Britteni Rice connected on a 3-pointer to give the Pioneers a 54-51 lead. After Sophie Kleeman pulled the Trojans to within a point, 54-53, with 2:08 to play in the contest, Denver pushed the lead to 56-53 behind a Rice lay-up. She hit the subsequent free throw to push the lead to 57-53.
Donette McNair hit a lay-up with 1:27 to play to trim the deficit to 57-55, before Kaetlyn Murdoch drained a pair of free throws for Denver (9-5, 4-0 Sun Belt) for a 59-55 Pioneer lead. The lead was pushed to 60-58 when the Trojans, for the second consecutive game had a chance to tie or win the game at the buzzer.
Sarah McAppion drove the basket but was short on a left-hand lay-up, followed by a missed 3-pointer by Brittnie Davis which resulted in a scrum in front of the basket. McNair came away with the ball but her desperation shot came after the buzzer for the Trojans.
“We just didn't defend well down the stretch,” Murphy said. “We didn't rebound well down the stretch and we lost site of (Britteni) Rice at the end of the game. We just didn't defend well or rebound well, and that is the bottom line.”
Troy led by as many 11 in the second half, and held Rice in check for most of the contest until the final minutes.
“We have to be tougher down the stretch,” Murphy said. “We were playing well for most of the game until down the stretch because we were doing the things we needed to in order to win the game.”
The Trojans and Denver battled for the first 20 minutes, with Troy using six offensive fouls by Denver to take a three-point lead at the intermission. The Pioneers held their largest lead of the game by four just 1:45 into the game, while Troy's biggest lead came with 9:18 left to play in the half as they built a six-point advantage.
After trailing early in the contest, freshman Cortney Hawkins provided a spark off the bench when she connected on two lay-ups to held the Trojans take a 10-8 lead. Her first shot connected with 12:31 to play to trim the deficit to 8-6, and her steal and lay-up with 10:21 to play gave the Trojans a 10-8 lead.
Her two lay-ups started a 10-0 run that gave Troy a 14-8 lead with 9:18 to play in the half, and consisted of baskets by McAppion and Alyce Shearing. Denver was able to come back and tie the game at 17-all with 5:17 to play in the half, before Troy took a 20-17 lead on a Kleeman 3-pointer with 4:10 left to play in the half.
Shearing added to the lead when she hit a 3-pointer with 2:28 to play, giving Troy a 23-19 lead and the Trojans held onto for the lead at intermission. Laura Palmere hit a 3-pointer for Denver with 1:20 left to play in the half, before McNair hit a lay-up with seven seconds remaining for the final points of the half.
Palmere missed a jumper for Denver that would have trimmed the lead to a single digit at the break, and the Pioneers could not come up with the rebound.
McAppion led Troy with 14 points on 50 (6-of-12) percent shooting from the floor, while connecting on a pair of 3-pointers. Shearing
Troy shot 47.8 (22-of-46) percent from the floor, 38.9 (7-of-11) percent from beyond the arc and shot 63.6 percent from the free throw line while attempting just 11 free throws. The Trojans also forced 19 Denver turnovers.
Meanwhile, Rice led Denver with 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and 7-of-9 shooting from the free throw line. Brianna Culberson added 15 and Murdoch 14 for Denver. The Pioneers, winners of eight consecutive games, shot 47.4 (18-of-38) percent from the floor and 82.6 (19-of-23) percent from the free throw line.
The Trojans return to action Monday night against Army at Trojan Arena. The game will tip at 7 pm, with the pre-game show beginning at 6:45 pm on WTBF-94.7 FM. The game will also be broadcast live on Trojan Gamepass, and will have live stats available. added 11 and McNair 10 in the loss for the Trojans.
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