Troy Set for Tough Road Test at Samford

TROY, Alabama – After a dominant season-opening win, the Troy women's basketball team returns to the court for a tough road test against Samford at the Pete Hanna Center at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

The game can be seen for free on the SoCon Digital Network. Links to that broadcast, live stats and free live audio can be found at TroyTrojans.com. Fans in Troy can also hear the game on WTBF 94.7 FM. For live in-game updates on Twitter, follow @TroyTrojansWBB.

Troy (1-0) is coming off of a 103-72 home win over Division II West Alabama in its season opener last Friday. Troy forced 32 turnovers and allowed the Tigers to score just 27 points in the second half, turning a 12-point halftime lead into a 31-point win.

Troy's two Preseason All-Sun Belt selections, Ashley Beverly Kelley and Caitlyn Ramirez, led the way with 24 and 18 points, respectively. Beverly Kelley made four 3-pointers and tied a career-high with seven steals. Ramirez shot 7-of-9 and also had four steals and two blocks.

Amanda Mendoza was impressive in her Troy debut, dishing out 12 assists with no turnovers in 20 minutes off the bench. Her 12 assists were the most by a Trojan in her debut since at least 1999-2000 when game statistics are first available.

Troy routinely substituted five players at time, leading to all 13 available players playing at least nine minutes, while none played more than Beverly Kelley's 27 minutes.

The Trojans are coming off of one of the best seasons in school history in which they went 20-11 to earn just the fourth 20-win season in program history. Troy played in the WBI, making just the second postseason appearance in program history, and the first since 1997.

In all, the Trojans return six players and have eight newcomers. Troy was picked to finish fifth in the Sun Belt by the league's coaches, but was one of five teams to receive first-place votes in what is predicted to be a very competitive race.

Samford (1-1), like Troy, is coming off of a dominant home win, beating AUM, 82-32, on Sunday. The Bulldogs will be playing their third game in five days after opening last Friday with a 68-47 loss at No. 11 Mississippi State. Samford went 15-15 last season, but returns all five starters and is picked to finish third in the SoCon.

Troy is 10-7 all-time against Samford, including last season's 76-67 win at Trojan Arena in which Ramirez scored a career-high 21 points. Prior to that meeting the two hadn't met since the 2006-07 season. Troy will be playing at the Pete Hanna Center, which opened in 2007-08, for the first time.

Following Tuesday's game, the Trojans will return home to host Fort Valley State on Sunday at 2 p.m.

For more information on Troy women's basketball, follow the Trojans on Twitter and Instagram at @TroyTrojansWBB.

For more information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find the Trojans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat by searching for Troy Athletics.

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Players Mentioned

Ashley Beverly Kelley

Amanda Mendoza

Caitlyn Ramirez

Troy University Athletics