Trojans Win Big Over South Alabama on Wednesday night

Wednesday, January 26

Troy, AL

7:00 p.m.

Troy University

University of South Alabama

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

Trojans Win Big Over South Alabama on Wednesday night

1/26/2011 9:52:38 PM | Basketball (W)

Troy uses record-setting night to run away from the visiting Lady Jags

By: Travis Jarome

Box Score | Photo Gallery

TROY, Ala. – On an historic night at Sartain Hall, the Troy University women's basketball team defeated in-state rival South Alabama 66-41 in Sun Belt Conference action Wednesday night.

“Obviously we are very pleased with the victory especially against an in-state rival,” head coach Michael Murphy said. “They have had our number in this series. They are a very good basketball team and are an upper class dominant team. We caught them on a bad night. “They did not shoot the ball extremely well and we were able to take advantage of their play. We rebounded the ball very good tonight and were able to keep them off the offensive boards. A big highlight for us was the way our bench played, especially in the first half.”

Senior Donette McNair (New London, Conn./New London HS) became the 17th member of the illustrious 1,000-point club, and 10th since 1993. She becomes the first since Kylie Morrissy achieved the feat in 2009, and the fifth to achieve the feat while under the tutelage of head coach Michael Murphy.

“If we are going to win then she has to score points,” Murphy said. “The thing about her scoring 1,000 career points is that she did it in the Sun Belt Conference, which is by far the toughest women's basketball conference this school has ever played in. Women's basketball in this league is exceptional, players are drafted every year from this conference. So for her to score 1,000 points and get close to 700 rebounds says a lot about her work ethic.”

She accomplished that feat with 2:59 remaining in the contest on a feed from Tenia Manuel (Leesburg, Fla./Leesburg HS). After the field goal, McNair went to the bench for the remainder of the contest just two rebounds shy of the 1,000 point-700 rebound club.

“Not really but I knew,” McNair said. “My mom called me last night and told me how close I was, so I tried not to think about it every time I scored. I was trying my best not to think about because I was more worried about winning the game. All I could think about was beating South Alabama. We lost to them at the buzzer last year.”

McNair finished the night with 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. She was joined in double figures by DeAngela Sword (Montgomery, Ala./Pensacola JC) in double figures with 16 on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor.

Although a pair of Trojans scored in double figures on the night, it was the play of sophomore point guard Sophie Kleeman (Newcastle, Australia/Newcastle HS) that caught the attention of Murphy. The sophomore scored eight points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out four assists and recorded three steals in the victory.

“Sophie has been our rock all year long and especially tonight,” Murphy said. “She was able to play another 40 minutes against South Alabama. Without her leadership and her ability to run the show, we wouldn't have been able to accomplish what we did tonight.”

South Alabama was led by Christian Shelter with 10 points, the long Lady Jag in double figures.

After allowing 195 points (97.5 ppg) in their last two games, the Trojans held South Alabama to just 41 on the night. The total scored by South Alabama was their lowest total of the night, while they also were held to their worst shooting night of the year at 25.0 (12-for-48) percent from the floor. The Trojans also held them to their lowest rebounding total (27) and their second-worst shooting night from beyond the arc.

The Trojans also set marks for the game in fewest field goals allowed this season in a game (12) and fewest field goal attempts (49).

“All the credit goes to the players for their work and coming out with a big win,” Murphy said. “I thought the key for us was defensive rebounding, we didn't give up a lot of second shots. We gave up just nine total offensive rebounds and three in the first half. I told our kids that was going to be critical to our success. They take so many threes, and with threes come long rebounds. If were able to cut down on second shots, we would have a chance and we did.”

For the second time this season, the Trojans set a school record on the defensive end. Earlier this season, the Trojans held Birmingham-Southern to just 13 first half points and on Wednesday night South Alabama was the handed that distinction. The Lady Jags now hold the record for futility against Troy all-time as they were held to 11 total first half points.

It marked the third time this season that the Trojans have held an opponent under 20 points in the opening half of play. The only other time that occurred this season was at home against Belhaven on December 4.

The first half was also a record night for the Lady Jags in another way they would like to forget as they were held to season-lows in points and field goal percentage. South Alabama shot just 15.8 (3-of-19) from the floor and missed each of their eight three-point field opportunities. The points scored breaks the 19 scored at FIU on January 8, the same contest they shot just 24.1 percent from the floor.

The Lady Jags were held without a three-point field goal until Lauren Walker hit one from the right wing with 16:51 remaining in the contest that trimmed the lead to 37-16. That same Troy defense that held South Alabama without a field goal was ranked as high as 30th in the country in three-point field goal percentage defense until the last three games when each of their opponents shot over 50 percent from beyond the arc.

The Trojans were able to open a big lead in the first half as they held South Alabama without a field goal for eight minutes of play. The Lady Jags hit a field goal to take a 3-2 lead at the 16:27 mark, and then Troy held them without a field goal until the 8:25 mark. During that time, the Trojans went on a 10-0 run to open up a 12-3 advantage midway through the opening half.

Troy pounded the ball inside to McNair for the majority of the first half until she went to the bench with her second personal foul with seven minutes remaining in the opening stanza. She went to the bench at the time with 10 points and three rebounds, and was outscoring South Alabama by four points herself.

However, with McNair on the bench, freshman Brooke Bowie (Winter Park, Fla./Lake Howell HS) picked up the slack as she came off the bench to score five quick points and push the Troy lead to 19-6 with 6:21 remaining in the opening half. The freshman drained the first three-pointer of the game for either team, and then followed that up with a short jumper.

“We bring in three freshmen off the bench,” Murphy said. “I thought all three played exceptionally well tonight, especially Brooke Bowie. I thought she really gave us some good offensive when Donette, Tenia Manuel and DeAngela Sword were all on the bench in foul trouble. A lot of the time we had three freshmen on the floor in second half of the first half, and we were able to build and maintain our lead.”

The Trojans return to action on the road Saturday afternoon when they travel to Monroe, La. to take on West Division member ULM. Tip is set for 4 p.m. at Fant-Ewing Coliseum, with the pregame show beginning at 3:45 p.m. on WTBF-94.7 FM.

For all the latest news on Troy University Athletics, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/TroyAthletics and become a fan on Facebook.