Troy University Athletics
Trojans Fall To Florida Atlantic
1/7/2010 3:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
BOCA RATON, Fla. - Playing their fourth game in eight days, the Troy University women's basketball team ran out of energy and were unable to come back from an early deficit as they lost to Florida Atlantic 83-60 in Sun Belt Conference play Wednesday night.
Troy (8-5, 1-3 Sun Belt) started their stretch December 30 against ULM, followed by games against Denver (January 2) and Army (January 4) before the long day of travel on Tuesday.
"That was just a brutal stretch," Troy head coach Michael Murphy said. "We have played four games in eight days, and then had a 16-hour travel day yesterday. I think it finally took a toll on us and we just couldn't rebound from that."
The Trojans fell behind early as Florida Atlantic (6-8, 3-1 Sun Belt) jumped out to an early double-digit lead in the game's first four minutes. From there, the Owls just couldn't miss a shot, as they shot 60.6 (20-of-33) percent in the first half from the floor and 57.1 (4-of-7) percent from beyond the arc.
Brittnie Davis and Kirsten Smith led the Trojans with 10 points each, as they shot 40 (24-of-60) percent from floor after struggling to shoot 29 (9-of-31) percent in the first half. The team also shot 37.5 (6-of-16) percent from beyond the arc and 60 (6-of-10) percent from the free throw line.
Meanwhile, Lyrell Barfield paced Florida Atlantic with 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor, while Brittany Bowe added 15 and Carla Stubbs 12 in the victory. Erica Caldwell added 11 points off the bench for the Owls, while Breana Kone added 10.
The Owls outrebounded Troy 34-29, while forcing 19 Troy turnovers. Troy, however, did double the amount of offensive rebounds that Florida Atlantic gathered as they grabbed 10 on the night.
The Trojans return to action Saturday afternoon at 5 pm EST on the road against FIU. The game can be heard on WTBF-94.7 FM, beginning with the pre-game shot at 4:45 pm CST.
