Trojans Fall to Owls in Final Non-Conference Matchup

Wednesday, December 21

Troy, Ala.

7:00 p.m.

Troy University

Kennesaw State University

Photo by: Edward Fieder

Trojans Fall to Owls in Final Non-Conference Matchup

12/21/2011 9:12:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Troy women's basketball fell to the Kennesaw State Owls 66-57 on Wednesday in Sartain Hall.

By: Ben Maxwell

Box Score | Game Notes | Photo Gallery

Troy, Ala. – Troy (1-10, 0-0) women's basketball fell to the Kennesaw State Owls 66-57 in their final non-conference matchup of the season in Sartain Hall on Wednesday.

Despite falling behind 0-8 going into the first media timeout of the contest, the Trojans began turning things around as they held the Owls scoreless for the following five minutes and even gaining their first lead on Kennesaw State. However, their lead would not last long as the Trojans would go on to trail the remainder of the half going into half time trailing the Owls 25-23.

The Trojans came out strong in the second half fighting their way back for two different lead changes, although Troy was unable to out-shoot their counter parts. Despite Sophie Kleeman, DeAngela Sword and Tenia Manuel all recording double-digits the Trojans were unable to overcome the 44% shooting by Kennesaw State; the third best shooting percentage by a Troy opponent this season.

“The first half we did a decent job on defense but the second half we lacked the intensity we needed to finish the game,” said head coach Michael Murphy.

“We just didn't play well enough in the second half to get the result we needed. Sometimes you can try too hard and if you try too hard sometimes you'll get the opposite result of what you need. When you're struggling shooting you can't make defensive mistakes and we made many in the second half that cost us the game.”

Troy women's basketball will now only have a week to prepare for conference action before they travel to take on the Denver Pioneers in their conference opener on December 28^th.

“There are three parts to a season: non-conference, conference and post season,” said Murphy. “We're going to our second part of the season, the conference part and that's something we have to be prepared for and we will be.”

Tipoff is set 8 pm central time.