Trojans Complete Season Sweep of South Alabama

Saturday, February 22

Mobile, Ala.

5:00 p.m.

Troy University

10-15, 6-8SBC

South Alabama

7-17, 5-9SBC

Troy

South Alabama

Photo by: Chris Davis

Trojans Complete Season Sweep of South Alabama

2/22/2014 8:16:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Box Score

By: Matt Mays

Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. – The Troy women's basketball team dominated the second half and used an 86-76 win to complete a season sweep of South Alabama. Saturday's win was the first for the Trojans in nine tries at the Mitchell Center.

Troy (10-15, 6-8) is now alone in sixth place in the Sun Belt standings, half a game ahead of UL Lafayette and a full game ahead of South Alabama and UL Monroe. The Trojans close the regular season with three of four at home.

Four Trojans scored in double figures on Saturday, led by Joanna Harden's 26 points. For the second time against South Alabama, Harden made history as she now holds the Troy single-season scoring record with 635 points this season. The record of 632 points had stood since 1989-90.

Harden also recorded team-highs with five assists and six steals. Ronita Garrett posted her second straight double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Ashley Beverly-Kelley scored 11 points, nine down the stretch in the second half.

Perhaps Troy's player of the game, Aissata Maiga scored a career-high 12 points off the bench with four assists, but she was just as valuable on the defensive end. Maiga was a big part of the reason Troy forced 23 South Alabama turnovers and scored 29 points off of them. South Alabama (7-17, 5-9) scored just four points off of 11 Troy turnovers.

"We have to prove that we can win away from Trojan Arena if we're going to doing anything down the stretch," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "We did that tonight. I'm proud of Aissata Maiga, her defense tonight is what kicked things to another notch for us tonight."

The Trojans never led in the first half as South Alabama shot 47 percent (14-of-30) in the opening frame. The Jaguars led by as many as seven in the first, but Troy closed well and trailed by two at the break, 41-39.

Troy carried that momentum over into the second half and it took the Trojans just 2:36 to take their first lead. After back-and-forth basketball, the two sides were tied 52-52 with 13:41 to go.

Troy then used a six-point run to take a lead it would never give up. The Jaguars wouldn't get any closer than three points the rest of the way as Troy led by as many as 12 points in the second half.

The Trojans shot 50 percent (19-of-38) in the second half while holding the Jaguars to 36 percent (10-of-38).

The two teams were tied for the Sun Belt lead, making just under seven 3-pointers per game, but neither hit that average on Saturday. Troy was 4-of-24 while South Alabama was 5-of-20.

South Alabama was led by Breanna Hall's 17 points, despite Hall going just 2-of-9 from the floor. She hit 13-of-14 free throws on the night, including 8-of-8 in the first half as South Alabama built its early lead.

Troy has now won three straight against South Alabama for the first time since winning seven straight against the Jaguars in the 1970s. The win was the first in Mobile for the Trojans since 1997-98, two seasons prior to the Mitchell Center opening.

The Trojans return to the court on Wednesday when UALR visits Trojan Arena for a 7 p.m. contest.

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.