Turnovers Cost Troy at Home

Sunday, December 11

Troy, Ala.

1:00 p.m.

Troy University

American University

Photo by: Cass Davis

12/11/2011 3:42:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Troy Falls to American University in a close finsih in Sartain Hall.

By: Ben Maxwell

Box Score | Game Notes

Troy, Ala. – The Troy women's basketball team fell in a close finish at home against the American University Eagles on Sunday 55-45.
The Trojans (0-8, 0-0) entered the matchup off of a weeklong rest following a five game road stretch.

American (6-4, 0-0) came out early with pressure on the Trojans defensively with full court pressure. The Trojans managed to adjust to the pressure, however struggling with their shooting only hitting 9-28 in the first half.

“Offensively, when you're playing against pressure you just have to play towards the basket and I think some of our kids were looking around for someone else to make that play when they had the play to make they would take that extra pass and many times that led to a turnover,” said head coach Michael Murphy.

“Its unselfish play but you have to understand time and score. When you're playing against a team that pressures you have to identify the gap and attack the gap. Costly turnovers and a couple of blown assignments really hurt us and cost us the game.”

Despite struggling in shooting with only 24% from the field compared to American's 32%, the Trojans led the Eagles in points in the paint with 12-6 going into half time. At the half the Trojans also had success in total rebounds with 26 rebounds to American's 17.

Troy came out in the second half after making some adjustments that soon paid off. The Trojans claimed their first lead of the game with a three point shot from Ieva Nagy to give Troy a 27-25 lead with 16:53 in the game.

The Trojans were able to maintain their lead up until eight minutes remaining in the game when American's Jen Dumiak hit a two point jumper to put the Eagles back on top. The Trojans continued to battle back but were unable to claim another lead.

American would go on to claim victory over Troy 55-45.

“The turning point came in the last three and a half minutes where we got lost on a couple of defensive assignments and they were able to capitalize,” Murphy said.

“One thing that really gave us a chance tonight was our offensive rebounds. We did a great job attacking the glass, but we got lost a couple times on defense in the last three and a half minutes of the game that cost us.”

Despite the loss the Trojans claimed many positives to build on. The Trojans totaled 42 rebounds while American only totaled 31.

Junior Sophie Kleeman returned from injury to start for Troy. She went on to lead the Trojans in scoring claiming 12 total points after hitting 2-4 from the ark and 4-5 from the field.

Freshman Kourtney Coleman is still on the mend from injuries suffered earlier this season, but she managed to lead the Trojans in total rebounds having claimed nine.

The defeat leaves the Trojans still without a victory, but Troy remains focused on the task at hand.

“You can't worry about your record,” said Murphy. “I've been on both sides, but you cannot focus on the record. What you focus on is the next possession. If you try to get to far ahead of yourself or look too far into the past you lose sight of what is important, which is the next possession. We have to learn from the past possession, prepare for the future possession but focus on the present possession. You can't become anchored down by your record, good or bad. That's all we can do.”

The Trojans now have only a few days to regroup before hitting the road again, this time to take on Alabama State in Montgomery on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 6pm.