Trojans Travel to Take on Panthers

Thursday, February 23

Miami, Fla.

4:30 p.m.

Troy University

Florida International University

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

2/22/2012 12:11:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Troy women's basketball will travel to Miami to take on FIU on Thursday at 4:30pm.

By: Ben Maxwell

Game Notes

Troy, Ala. - Troy women's basketball hits the road for the first game of a two game road campaign to wrap up the 2011-12 regular season starting with Florida International University on Thursday at 4:30 (CST).

The Trojans (2-23, 1-13 Sun Belt) enter Thursday's matchup after suffering a loss in their final home contest against UALR 59-40 on Saturday. Troy continues to struggle with injuries but with four days off to prepare will look to finish out the season strong.

“We finish up our regular season on the road in Florida,” head coach Michael 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.”

Junior Sophie Kleeman will look to continue to advance her name up in the Troy record books. Kleeman currently ranks eighth in career assists with 211. She is only 20 assists away from Amy Lewis (2004-08) who currently sits in 7th place with 231 assists. Kleeman is also only eight 3-pointers away from tying Chandra Bradford (1999-00) for Troy's seventh career 3-point leader. Bradford sits with 89 career 3-pointers; Kleeman has 81.

Senior Tenia Manuel will look to continue to be a dual threat for Troy this season. She leads her team in rebounding averaging 6.9 rebounds per game. Along with being Troy's leading rebounding threat, Manuel also ranks right behind DeAngela Sword as Troy's second leading scorer with 7.8 points per game this season.

Manuel is also advancing her name through the Troy record books as she sits in 9th place in most career rebounds in Troy's history. Manuel has 485 career rebounds and is only 19 rebounds away from tying former Trojan Amy Lewis (2004-08) for 8^th most career rebounds.

Troy will look to slow down a FIU team that currently sits on a three game winning streak on their own court. The Panthers are 4-2 in conference games at home this season.

FIU is led by the sophomore Jerica Coley who averages 24.1 points per game. Coley totaled 26 points after shooting 11-16 from the field against Troy earlier this season.

The Trojans have had a history of success inside U.S. Century Bank Arena as they are 3-3 against FIU on the Panthers home court.