Troy Travels to Rival South Alabama Looking for 20th Win

MOBILE, Alabama – The Troy women's basketball team will look for its eighth straight win and first 20-win season in nearly two decades when it travels to take on rival South Alabama at the Mitchell Center on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Troy (19-9, 14-5) has won seven consecutive games, its longest streak since 1992-93, and can pick up the program's first 20-win season since 1996-97 with a season sweep of its in-state rival.

Live audio and live video will be available for Trojan All-Access subscribers at TroyTrojans.com. A link to live stats can be found on the women's basketball schedule page at TroyTrojans.com. Fans in Troy can also hear the game on WTBF 94.7 FM. To follow the action on Twitter, follow @TroyWomensBBall.

Troy was off on Thursday night, but Arkansas State's win over South Alabama guaranteed the Trojans the No. 3 seed in next week's Sun Belt Championships, Troy's highest seed ever in the tournament. It will be Troy's second highest seed in any conference tournament, second only to the 1996-97 team that was the No. 1 seed in the Mid-Continent Tournament.

In its last game, Troy defeated Georgia State, 88-75, last Saturday at Trojan Arena. Ronita Garrett led the Trojans with 17 points and 10 rebounds, her fifth straight double-double. Garrett now has 20 double-doubles on the season, the most in the Sun Belt and seventh most in the NCAA. She ranks fourth in the Sun Belt in scoring (16.1 ppg) and first in rebounding (11.1 rpg).

Ashley Beverly-Kelley enters as the Trojans' leading scorer, ranking second in the Sun Belt in overall scoring (17.6 ppg) and first in scoring in league games (19.7 ppg). She has scored 20-plus in seven of her last 10 games, including an NCAA Division I leading 46 two weeks ago.

As a team, Troy is averaging a Sun Belt best 77.0 points per game (15th in NCAA). Troy also leads the league in assists (14.7 apg), rebounds (43.1 rpg), opponent turnovers (22.7/g, 4th in NCAA) and steals (12.4 spg, 4th in NCAA).

South Alabama (5-23, 2-17) is coming off of a 70-60 loss at Arkansas State on Thursday. The Jaguars pulled within three points on three different occasions late in the second half, but never got any closer.

Breanna Hall led South Alabama with 16 points, upping her scoring average to a team best 15.5 points per game. Hall is the only Jaguar averaging double figures.

South Alabama leads the all-time series against Troy, 19-17, but the Trojans have won the last four meetings. Troy won this season's first meeting, 78-67, at Trojan Arena on February 12. Troy led that game by as many as 23 points in the second half, but the Jaguars closed on a 14-2 run to cut the final deficit.

Following Saturday's final regular season finale, the Trojans will play in the Sun Belt Championships quarterfinals on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.

Troy will play the No. 6 seed, which entering Saturday's games is UL Lafayette. However, Texas State, UT Arlington and Appalachian State, along with the Cajuns, could all end as the No. 6 team depending on Saturday's results

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.

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Players Mentioned

Ashley Beverly Kelley

Ronita Garrett