Trojans Defeat Texas State; 4-0 in Sun Belt

Thursday, January 12

Troy, Ala.

6 PM

Troy University

11-4, 4-0

Texas State

6-9, 1-3

Texas State

Troy

Photo by: Chris Davis

Trojans Defeat Texas State; 4-0 in Sun Belt

1/12/2017 9:10:00 PM | Basketball (W)

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By: Wes Johnson

Box Score | Photo Gallery

TROY, Alabama – The Troy university women's basketball team got a double-double from Caitlyn Ramirez as the Trojans claimed a 65-54 victory over Texas State on Thursday at Trojan Arena.

Troy (11-4, 4-0) was air-tight defensively in the opening quarter holding Texas State to 2-of-13 shooting and just five points while Ramirez scored half of the team's points in a 10-0 run to start the game. The senior forward finished the first half with 13 of Troy's 27 points.

Sporadic shooting was the tale throughout the game especially in the first 20 minutes when both teams went into the the locker room hitting under 24 percent from the field. Troy was able to open its lead to 11 in the third quarter on a layup by Amahni Upshaw, who finished the game with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Texas State (6-9, 1-3) closed the gap to just one with 6:04 remaining in the contest, but the Trojans never relinquished the lead as Jayla Chills and Amanda Mendoza hit clutch 3-pointers in the final five minutes to keep the Bobcats at arm's length.

Ramirez was steady throughout en route to her sixth career double-double scoring 21 points with 15 rebounds. She was 5-for-10 from the field and 8-for-8 from the free throw line.

Taeler Deer led the Bobcats with 17 points. Texas State shot 36.1 percent for the game while the Trojans were held to 22.7 percent from the field. Troy won the rebounding battle 53-37, the Trojans also shot 22-of-27 from the free throw line as a team.

QUOTABLE
"I thing at the first media timeout, we were shooting 22 percent from the field," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "That put us in a hole and that was the downward spiral in the first half. In the second half, we made a few adjustments and found people that were on or fighting their hardest to try to win the game for us at the end."

UP NEXT
Troy takes on UTA on Saturday in a bout that could have major implications in the Sun Belt Conference regular season title. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.

NOTEABLE
• The win is the sixth under head coach Chanda Rigby when scoring 65 or fewer points.

• Troy recorded 53 rebounds in the game, the eighth 50-plus rebound performance of the season.

• Amahni Upshaw missed the first six games of the season and has played sparingly in the last eight while recovering from an injury. The sophomore was one rebound shy of her third career double-double as she finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

• The Trojans led at the end of the first quarter 14-5 and held its opponent to its lowest point total (54) of the season.

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.