Trojans Fall in Sartain Hall Finale

Saturday, February 18

Troy, Ala.

5:15 p.m.

Troy University

University of Arkansas - Little Rock

Photo by: Edward Fieder

2/18/2012 8:11:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Troy women's basketball fell to UALR 59-40 in Sartain Hall on Satruday.

By: Ben Maxwell

Box Score | Game Recap

Troy, Ala. – On a night where Troy University said farewell to Sartain Hall, the Trojans' women said farewell to five seniors. However, both farewells were bitter sweet as the Trojans fell to West Division-leading UALR 59-40 Saturday night.

“I really appreciate my team's effort tonight,” head coach Michael Murphy said. “We played hard but just came up short on the offensive side.”

Senior Tenia Manuel and Ieva Nagy both tied as Troy's leading scorer as they both posted up nine points each. Manuel went on to also lead her team in rebounding in her 100th career game as a Trojan with 5 total rebounds.

UALR was led by Marian Kursh, who came off of the bench to lead her team with 20 total points after shooting 9-10 from the field. UALR went on to lead Troy 31-10 on points off of the bench.

Both Trojan teams battled through a stalemate in the first six minutes until UALR broke away with a 13-2 run giving them a 20-10 lead. Troy battled back to little avail and would go into halftime trailing 34-18.

Troy (2-23, 1-12 Sun Belt) came out strong in the second half to cut the UALR (15-12, 10-4) lead down to 12. However, an 18-4 point run by UALR would build their lead to 55-30 with only seven minutes remaining. Troy battled back one last time with a 10-4 run late in the half but went on to fall to the UALR Trojans 59-40.

The loss comes in the Trojans final outing in Sartain Hall. The Trojans end 286-167 all time in 37 seasons inside Sartain Hall.

“We are looking forward to moving into the new arena,” said Murphy.

“This building has some challenges with three teams being in it. This building has seen a lot of use, it has been functional but we are ready to get in the new arena with the new practice court and the new weight room. Sartain has served the university well but it is time to retire the building.”

The Trojans will be moving into the newly constructed Trojan Arena in fall of 2012.

Troy now has only two road games remaining before the Sun Belt conference tournament beginning with Florida International on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 4:30pm (CST).

“We finish up our regular season on the road in Florida,” Murphy said.

“We will try to prepare best we can but injuries really make it difficult. I don't know if people can appreciate what our kids go though when dealing with injuries. I give all of these kids credit with showing up every day and doing all that they can do. I am proud of our kids on what they've done and what they keep battling through. I can't say enough about they're grit.”