Troy University Athletics
Troy University
UL Lafayette
Players Mentioned
Troy Faces UL Lafayette in Wednesday’s Quarterfinals
3/10/2015 10:50:00 AM | Basketball (W)
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana – The Troy women's basketball team rides an eight-game winning streak into this week's Sun Belt Championships and will put it on the line Wednesday night in the tournament's quarterfinals against UL Lafayette at 7:30 p.m. at Lakefront Arena.
Fans can watch the game for free at ESPN3.com and listen to the Troy radio broadcast for free at TroyTrojans.com. The game will also be broadcast on WTBF 94.7 FM in Troy. Live stats for all tournament games can be found at SunBeltSports.org.
Troy (20-9, 15-5) earned the No. 3 seed in the eight-team tournament, its highest seed in its 10 seasons in the Sun Belt and the highest for the program since a No. 1 seed in the 1996-97 Mid-Continent (now Summit League) tournament. Troy is looking to advance to the Sun Belt semifinals for the first time in program history.
"To me the toughest coach to go against in the tournament is Garry Brodhead (UL Lafayette)," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "He knows how to get a team ready to play at tournament time. They have, in my opinion, the best three guard combination in the conference, arguably. They play well together on defense and offense. We have a size advantage, but they have an advantage of playing small all year and overcoming that."
In its final regular season game, Troy won at South Alabama on Saturday, 86-79. The win gave the Trojans their first 20 win season since that 1996-97 NCAA Tournament team went 23-7. It is just the fourth 20-win season in the program's 40-year history. Troy's eight-game winning streak is the longest since the 1992-93 team won a program record 15 consecutive games.
In the win at South Alabama, Troy forced the Jaguars into 28 turnovers, including 20 in the second half. Troy ranks third in the NCAA averaging 12.4 steals per game and fourth forcing 22.9 opponent turnovers (both rank first in Sun Belt).
As a team, Troy is averaging a Sun Belt best 77.3 points per game (13th in NCAA), including 79.8 per game in Sun Belt play. Troy also leads the league in assists (14.7 apg), rebounds (43.0 rpg) and offensive rebounds (17.3/g, 7th in NCAA).
Troy is led by two first team All-Sun Belt selections in senior Ronita Garrett and junior Ashley Beverly-Kelley. They are Troy's first pair of first team all-conference selections since 2002-03 when Troy was a member of the Atlantic Sun.
Garrett has posted 21 double-doubles this season, including six consecutive. Her 21 double-doubles are six more than any other Sun Belt player and the seventh most in the NCAA. She ranks fourth in the Sun Belt in scoring (16.0 ppg) and first in rebounding (11.3 rpg).
Beverly-Kelley enters as the Trojans' leading scorer, ranking second in the Sun Belt in overall scoring (17.7 ppg) and first in scoring in league games (19.8 ppg). She has scored 20-plus in eight of her last 11 games, including an NCAA Division I leading 46 two weeks ago.
UL Lafayette (18-11, 10-10) earned the No. 6 seed for this week's tournament after dropping its final two games to UALR and Arkansas State, the only teams that finished above Troy in the standings.
Keke Veal has scored in double figures in eight straight for the Cajuns and now leads the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game this season. She and fellow guards Jaylyn Gordon (13.7 ppg) and Kia Wilridge (12.3 ppg) are all averaging double figure scoring.
The Ragin' Cajuns rank third in the conference in scoring defense at 59.2 points per game, thanks in large part to their pressure defense. UL Lafayette ranks behind only Troy as they force 21.6 opponent turnovers and grab 10.6 steals per game. The Cajuns +6.97 turnover margin ranks first in the Sun Belt and fifth in the NCAA.
Troy defeated UL Lafayette in both of this season's meetings, winning by five points in each game. Troy pulled ahead early in each game and held on late, beating the Cajuns 60-55 on the road in early January, then 68-63 at home in mid-February. Troy played much slower than normal in both games, attempting a season-low 52 shots in the game at the Cajundome and 56 shots at Trojan Arena.
Troy is 9-7 all-time against UL Lafayette, including a win on campus in Troy in the first round of the 2009 Sun Belt Championships. That is the only Sun Belt Championships meeting in the series history.
The winner of the game will face the winner of Arkansas State and Appalachian State in Friday's second semifinal at 2 p.m. The tournament's championship game will be held on Saturday at 7 p.m. All of the tournament's games can been seen on ESPN3.
For more information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube by searching for Troy Athletics.