Troy Falls to South Alabama at Home

Saturday, January 14

Troy, Ala.

5:15 p.m.

Troy University

University of South Alabama

Photo by: Edward Fieder

1/14/2012 8:13:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Troy women's basketball fell to the Jaguars 53-46 in Sartain Hall on Saturday.

By: Ben Maxwell

Box Score | Post Notes | Photo Gallery

Troy, Ala. – Troy (1-15, 0-5) women's basketball fell to in-state conference foe South Alabama (11-6, 4-1) 53-46 at home on Saturday.

“I'm really pleased with my team's effort; there was just a stretch in the second half where we couldn't score,” said head coach Michael Murphy. “It wasn't a byproduct of bad shots, we just couldn't finish. At one point we were down by 17 and in a span of five minutes cut it down to five.”

Both teams entered the contest evenly matched. Both teams shot 33% from the floor in the first half of play. Despite going down early in the first two minutes with an injury, senior DeAngela Sword returned to the game to lead her team in total points with 11 points going into halftime.

In the second half it was the Jaguars three point shooting that created trouble for the Trojans as they hit 35% of the their three point shots as Troy struggled with 27% from behind the arc. South Alabama also made adjustments in the second half to shut down Troy's leading offensive threat DeAngela Sword. Despite not hitting any shots in the second half Sword still finished the contest as the leading scorer for
Troy with 11 total points.

“DeAngela is going to require a lot of attention from the other team,” said Murphy.

“She's our leading scorer and one of the top scorers in the conference. I give her a lot of credit. Many people don't realize that she has to overcome a lot just to play a game. It really shows her character and drive with the kind of commitment she has for this team.”

The Trojan bench did its part against the Jaguars as Troy outscored South Alabama 19-8 in bench point.

“We won a lot of battles but we just lost the war,” Murphy said.

“Our bench did a really good job for us tonight. We're going to continue to get better. I really appreciate this team's effort and willingness to prepare and their ability to come to practice every day with the right attitude. The team chemistry is excellent and I appreciate how hard the kids are working.”

The Trojans now have only five days to prepare for their next conference opponent Florida Atlantic when they play host to the Owls on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 5:15pm.