Troy University Athletics
Thursday, March 19
Macon, Ga.
6 p.m.
Troy University
20-11
68
at
83
Mercer
19-14
1
2
F
Troy
25
43
68
Mercer
42
41
83
Team Stats
TROY
MER
FG%
.333
.433
3FG%
.222
.417
FT%
.714
.870
RB
40
53
TO
10
18
STL
11
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Basketball (W)
G
/ Basketball (W)F
/ Basketball (W)G
/ Basketball (W)
Photo by: Chris Davis
Troy Women Fall Behind Early in WBI Loss at Mercer
3/19/2015 9:04:00 PM | Basketball (W)
MACON, Georgia – The Troy women's basketball team fell down early to Mercer and never recovered in an 83-68 loss in the WBI first round at Hawkins Arena on Thursday night.
Seniors Aissata Maiga and Ronita Garrett led the Trojans with 16 points each, including a 7-of-8 performance from the field for Maiga. Ashley Beverly-Kelley scored 14 points, but shot just 4-of-21, including 2-of-6 from deep. Troy's other dressed out senior Kourtney Coleman made the Trojans only other two 3-pointers.
Troy (20-11), making the second postseason appearance in program history, started the game just 1-of-15 from the floor and Mercer built a 21-2 lead with 11:31 to go before the break. The Trojans went on to trail by as many as 29 in the second half before a furious run had them ready for a comeback.
Down 64-35 with 10:51 to go, the Troy press really began to hit home as Mercer turned it over six times in four minutes. A large group of Troy supporters were getting loud and the Trojans went on a 19-2 run to cut the lead to 12 points, 66-54, with 6:54 to go.
However, Mercer made 13-of-16 free throws down the stretch to end the run and never allowed Troy to get any closer than the 12 points.
In all, Troy forced Mercer (19-14), who averages just 10 turnovers a game, to 18 on Thursday night. Troy committed just 10 itself but Mercer scored 19 points off turnovers and Troy scored just 18.
Precious Bridges, the SoCon Player of the Year, scored 26 points on 7-of-19 shooting. However, the biggest difference for Mercer, especially during the early run, was 6-foot-5 center Teanna Robinson.
Robinson scored 14 points and pulled down 17 rebounds, but nine of her rebounds were offensive and 12 of her points were second-chance opportunities. Troy pulled down two more offensive rebounds than Mercer, 21-19, but the Bears outscored the Trojans in second-chance points, 27-17.
SoCon Freshman of the Year Kahlia Lawrence also had a double-double as she scored 19 points with 10 rebounds. Mercer shot 43 percent (29-of-67) in game, including 5-of-12 from deep, with 5-of-10 coming in the first half as it built the lead. Mercer shot 20-of-23 from the free throw line.
Troy shot just 33 percent (27-of-81) and 4-of-18 from deep. Despite the advantage on the offensive glass, the poor shooting percentage led to Troy getting outrebounded 53-40.
The loss ends a historic season for Troy that saw the team win 20 games for the just the fourth time in its 40-year history. In Chanda Rigby's third season, the Trojans won 18 more games than they did the season before she took over.
Troy had winning streaks of six and eight games, with the eight game streak coming at the end of the regular season to set the program Division I record. Troy will also likely finish the season as the Sun Belt's top scoring team for the third straight year.
For more information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat by searching for Troy Athletics.
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