Trojans Host Home Opener Wednesday

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TROY, Ala. – After opening the Chanda Rigby era on the road, the Troy women's basketball team and its first-year head coach finally takes to the floor inside Trojan Arena on Wednesday when Mercer visits. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Live stats and live video will be available through TroyTrojans.com. The game will be broadcast on WTBF 94.7 FM in Troy. A stream of the radio broadcast will be available on WTBF.com.

The Trojans (0-1) opened a new era for the women's basketball program at Winthrop on Sunday, falling in a shootout, 87-82. The new era not only encompasses a new coaching staff and a new home arena, it also features a system change that was evident on Sunday.

Rigby brings with her to Troy an up-tempo, pressing style of basketball that relies on three things; the fast-break offense, rebounding and a full-court press defense. The question was how long Troy's roster would take to learn the system. The answer; not long at all.

Troy excelled in all three phases at Winthrop.

First, the Trojans scored 82 points, the most for a Troy team since scoring 84 against Middle Tennessee nearly three years ago in the 2009-10 season. The most impressive part of the 82 points was that Troy only shot 31.4 percent and went scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half.

Second, the Trojans grabbed 54 rebounds against the Eagles, more than Troy recorded in any game last season. The 54 rebounds have the Trojans leading the conference in rebounding as no other Sun Belt team broke the 50-rebound mark on the season's opening weekend. Troy also pulled in a Sun Belt-high 25 offensive rebounds.

Third, but not least, the defense as Troy forced 29 turnovers, against a Winthrop team that featured three All-Big South guards, including a point guard that is the league's reigning player of the year. Troy scored 30 points off the turnovers while the Eagles scored just 12 off of Troy's turnover.

True freshman Ashley Beverly-Kelley led the Trojans with 19 points in her collegiate debut, the highest for a Troy freshman in her debut since Thea Herring scored 23 against Centenary in 2000.

Mercer (1-0) opened its season with a 57-50 win over Division II member Brevard College last Friday. The Bears, who usually like to play fast, were slowed down by Brevard's ball control attack.

The Bears finished 6-23 last season under then first-year head coach Susie Gardner. Gardner is a women's basketball coaching veteran, coming to Mercer after three seasons as an assistant coach at Florida. Prior to that Gardner spent four seasons as the head coach at Arkansas on the heels of seven years in charge at Austin Peay.

For more information on Troy Athletics, be sure to check with TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter at @TroyAthletics or on Facebook at Facebook.com/TroyAthletics.

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