Trojans Fall to Florida Atlantic Wednesday

Wednesday, February 23

Boca Raton, FL

7:00 p.m. (EST)

Troy University

Florida Atlantic University

Photo by: Edward Fieder

Trojans Fall to Florida Atlantic Wednesday

2/23/2011 8:20:22 PM | Basketball (W)

With the loss, the Trojans are locked into the sixth seed from the East in the tournament

By: Travis Jarome

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Troy University women hit the road for the final time in the regular season Wednesday night, falling to Florida Atlantic University 66-59 at FAU Arena in Sun Belt Conference action.

Troy (5-23, 2-13 Sun Belt) was led in scoring by senior Donette McNair (New London, Conn./New London HS) with 15 point and eight rebounds, as she shot 50 (5-for-10) percent from the floor. She was joined in double figures by Tenia Manuel (Leesburg, Fla./Leesburg HS) with 14 point and seven rebounds; while Brooke Bowie (Winter Park, Fla./Lake Howell HS) added 10 points off the bench, her second consecutive game in double figures off the bench.

Meanwhile, Florida Atlantic (7-19, 4-11 Sun Belt) was led by Breanna Turner off the bench with 17 points, while Vontrice Dennis added 10 in the victory.

"I am proud of the way the team fought back in the second half," head coach Michael Murphy said. "We dug a hole for ourselves in the first half and just had to really battle in the second half, which I thought we did. We outrebounded them by 10 and had 19 offensive rebounds, which I think speaks to how hard we were playing.

"We just weren't efficient enough on offense in the first half, and we had to expend so much energy in the second half. Then when we got into single digits, we really kind of ran out of steam. I though Brooke (Bowie) once again came off the bench and played really well for us. That is two games, back-to-back, where she has done that. We just have to regroup, which we will, and get ready to play FIU."

The victory by Florida Atlantic secures the fifth spot in the East Division for the Owls in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament. It also knocks the Trojans to the sixth seed in the East Division, matching them with the third seed in the West Division in opening round of the conference tournament.

The Trojans took an early lead in the opening stages of the first half when sophomore Sophie Kleeman (Newcastle, Australia/Newcastle HS) knocked down the game's first three-pointer to give the visitors a 7-6 lead with 16:42 remaining in the opening half. The Trojans stretched the lead to 10-6 on a free three by DeAngela Sword (Montgomery, Ala./Pensacola JC) and a jumper by Manuel with 16:02 remaining in the half.

However, Florida Atlantic went on 12-0 run over the next three minutes to take an 18-10 lead with 11:08 remaining in the half. A layup by Manuel halted the run by the Owls, as Troy cut the deficit to 18-12 with 10:45 remaining in the half. The Trojans were able to chip the lead down over the next two minutes as they kept Florida Atlantic within reach at six points, 22-16 with 7:51 remaining on a jumper by Sword.

The Owls closed the half on a 14-4 run over the final 7:51 to take a 36-20 lead at the break. Florida Atlantic forced the Trojans into 15 first half turnovers, however, the Trojans pulled down 11 offensive rebounds but were just unable to finish their shots in the first – shooting 23.3 (7-for-30) percent in the opening 20 minutes of play.

Every run the Trojans made to get back into the contest in the second half, Florida Atlantic made a counter run to push the lead back to double digits. The Trojans got the game to within seven points early in the second half, but Florida Atlantic scored the next six points to push the lead back to 13 and they were able to keep that lead there the remainder of the game.

The Trojans final came with 7:12 remaining in the contest and trailing 63-46, as they went on an 8-0 run to close to within 63-54 with less than two minutes remaining. Manuel converted a pair of free throws with 6:41 remaining to trim the deficit, before she converted a three-point play with 6:11 to play to trim the lead to 63-51. Freshman Dominique Ross (Covington, Tenn./Covington HS) knocked down a pair of free throws with 4:20 remaining to knock the deficit to 63-53.

Both teams struggled to score for the next two minutes as Troy missed a lay-up with 3:26 to play, before freshman Bowie knocked down one of two free throws to trim the lead to 63-54 with 2:54 to play. The Trojans got to within eight on a McNair lay-up with 58.4 seconds to play before Florida Atlantic put the game away at the line. Bowie drained a three-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.

Troy shot 35 (21-for-60) percent from the floor, 23.8 (5-for-21) percent from beyond the arc and 70.6 (12-for-17) percent from the free throw line. The Trojans won the rebounding battle 47-37. Meanwhile, Florida Atlantic shot 41.3 (26-for-63) percent from the floor and 21.4 (3-for-14) percent from beyond the arc. The Owls also shot 73.3 (11-for-15) percent from the free throw line, splitting the season series with Troy.

The Trojans will remain on the road and conclude their south Florida road trip against FIU on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 pm (EST). The game will be the final game of the regular season for both teams.

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