Cold Second-Half Stretch Downs Trojans

Saturday, November 30

Troy, Ala.

1:00 p.m.

Troy University

3-3

Jacksonville

2-2

Jacksonville

Troy

Photo by: Joshua Thurston

11/30/2013 3:48:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Box Score

By: Matt Mays

Box Score

TROY, Ala. – The Troy women's basketball team struggled offensively in the second half, shooting just 23 percent, in an 82-67 loss to Jacksonville at home on Saturday.

Troy (3-3) shot just 10-of-43 overall and 1-of-12 from deep in the second half as Jacksonville (2-2) outscored the Trojans 36-25 in the final frame. JU shot over 40 percent (28-of-67) for the game while Troy shot under 30 percent (26-of-87).

The Trojans trailed by four at halftime and by three, 57-54, at the midway point of the second half, but then missed 12 straight shots as the Dolphins used a 12-4 run to push their lead to double figures.

Joanna Harden, coming off of her record-setting performance on Tuesday, scored 24 points to lead all scorers, but was just 10-of-27 from the field. Ashley Beverly-Kelley was the only other Trojan in double figures with 12 points. Ronita Garrett just missed her second straight double-double with eight points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Trojans shutdown JU's Sherranda Reddick, who averaged over 20.0 points per game coming in, and held the true freshman to five points, plus six turnovers. However, another pregame emphasis, the Dolphins' post play, proved to hurt the Trojans.

Madison Scott (15 points, 14 rebounds) and Jade Cargill (18 points, 10 rebounds) each posted double-doubles as Jacksonville outrebounded Troy 59-47 and outscored the Trojans in the paint 42-26.

"We accomplished half of what we wanted to today," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "We kept 22 (Reddick) out of sync, but they were able to get the ball inside and that really hurt us."

Three other Dolphins scored in double figures as Queen Alford (18), Briona Brown (11) and Ciara McLee (10) each contributed to JU's second straight win. McLee scored eight of her points at the free throw line as JU took twice the free throws that Troy did.

Jacksonville made 24-of-35 free throws, including seven makes over the final five minutes, while Troy was just 10-of-13 from the stripe, including 4-of-4 in the second half.

The Dolphins scored six points in the final 42 seconds to bring the final scoring margin to 15 points after the two sides had eight lead changes in the first half and the game was a single-digit one for most of the second half.

Troy returns to the court on Wednesday when Florida visits Trojan Arena. Tipoff between the Trojans and Gators is set for 7 p.m.

For more information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter and Instagram at @TroyAthletics and on Facebook at Facebook.com/TroyAthletics.