Rally Not Enough as Troy Falls at Tennessee

Wednesday, December 21

Knoxville, Tenn.

6 PM

Troy University

6-4

110

Tennessee

7-4

Troy

Tennessee

110

Photo by: Chris Davis

Rally Not Enough as Troy Falls at Tennessee

12/21/2016 9:56:00 PM | Basketball (W)

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By: Wes Johnson

Box Score | Photo Gallery

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – Troy cut a 23-point deficit in the second quarter and went into the locker room at halftime trailing by just five, but ultimately fell to Tennessee, 110-84, on Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Down 41-17 with 6:29 left in the half, the Trojans (6-4) began chipping away before going on a 21-4 run over the last 4:43 to pull the game to within five points, 47-42. The Lady Vols scored just 12 points in the second quarter after putting up 35 in the first.

Tennessee (7-4) relied heavily on the deep shot from guard Alexa Middleton, who scored a career-high 27 points on the back of 7-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Jamie Nared scored 21 points before fouling out. Mercedes Russell and Meme Jackson added 18 points each. The Lady Vols scored 63 of its 110 points in the second half and shot at a 51 percent clip for the game.

Jayla Chills turned in a solid performance for the Trojans with 17 points and 10 rebounds, her first career double-double. The senior was 8-for-26 from the field while missing all eight 3-point attempts. Claresa Banks led Troy scorers with 19 points – one shy of tying her career high – on 7-for-18 shooting; she was also 5-11 from the 3-point line.

UP NEXT
Troy will take an eight-day break before hosting Armstrong State on Dec. 29. It will be the final non-conference tune-up before opening Sun Belt Conference play on Dec. 31 at South Alabama.

NOTEWORTHY
• Troy is just the sixth team to score 80 or more points against Tennessee in the Lady Vols' last 120 games. The Trojans are the only unranked team to eclipse the 80-point plateau against UT in that span.

• For the fifth time this season, Troy recorded 50 rebounds. However, Tennessee won the battle on the boards, 59-50.

• Amanda Mendoza turned a season-high seven assists.

• Troy attempted 99 shots in the contest, the most since putting up the same number at Georgia Southern in a 99-93 win on Feb. 19, 2015.

• The Trojans score 80-plus points for the 63^rd time under head coach Chanda Rigby.

For more information on Troy women's basketball, visit TroyTrojans.com or follow the team on Twitter at @TroyTrojansWBB.

The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy. New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12. For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the @FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.