Troy University Athletics

Women's Basketball Earns Win No. 20 with Blowout Victory at App State
2/15/2020 4:38:00 PM | Basketball (W)
BOONE, N.C. – Troy women's basketball got back into the win column Saturday afternoon thanks to a dominating second-quarter performance where they blew the game open with a 28-8 run. Troy's 81-61 victory gives them 20 wins on the season, the fifth time in head coach Chanda Rigby's career that the Trojans have won at least 20 games in a season.
The catalyst to the Trojans impressive second-quarter was the play of Japonica James and Amber Rivers. James got things started in the second with the first six points of the quarter while Rivers scored a quarter-high 8-points behind a pair of triples. The dominating quarter propelled Troy to shooting 50 percent from the field, its highest percentage of the year, on 30-of-60 shooting. James ended the afternoon with a team-high 20-points, her fifth 20-point performance of the season and second-straight, while Rivers had 18-points, her third career game at App reaching double-digits. Joining the Trojan pair in double-digit scoring were Jasmine Robinson who score 14, Alexus Dye who scored 11 and Tyasia Moore who scored 10. This was the first game that Troy has had five scorers in double figures since Dec. 15 at Chattanooga.
In stark contrast from Thursday night where both Troy and Coastal eclipsed the century mark, Troy got back to playing lock down defense, holding App State to just 36 percent shooting from the field on 22-of-60 shooting. The Trojans held App State's Pre Stanley, averaging 18 points per game at home, to just four-points. Only one Mountaineer reached double figures in Lainey Gosnell who scored 13.
Records
Troy: 20-4 (11-2 SBC)
App State: 8-16 (5-8 SBC)
Quoting Coach Rigby
On another strong performance from Amber Rivers in Boone
"She's always played her best here and it's very hard to play here. We always seem to have a player play really well here and Amber came through once again tonight."
On shot selection in the game
"I was very pleased. It was very obvious in the first few minutes that their game plan was to just hold it until the clock ran down and slow the game down. Because of that we went to a full court press so when we did get the ball in our hands we started taking good shots."
On avoiding a letdown after Thursday
"I was very happy because you don't want a loss like the last one to get in your mind. We came out strong and responded very well and I am very pleased.
Notables
• Troy improved to 23-7 in games following a loss since 2015-16
• Kayla Robinson tied a career-high in assists for the second-straight game with five
• Troy recorded 40 total rebounds, its lowest rebounding total of the season and fewest in a game since recording 34 vs Arkansas State back on Feb. 8, 2018
• Troy has now won eight straight against App State
Up Next
The Trojans will close out their 2019-20 home slate on Thursday and Saturday of next week. Troy will host Sun Belt rival Little Rock on Thursday at 6 p.m. before hosting Arkansas State on Saturday at 4 p.m. On Saturday Troy will honor its five seniors as well as returning letter winners prior to the start of Saturdays game.
Follow TROY Women's Basketball
Social: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Join The Conversation: #GrindToShine | #OneTROY
The catalyst to the Trojans impressive second-quarter was the play of Japonica James and Amber Rivers. James got things started in the second with the first six points of the quarter while Rivers scored a quarter-high 8-points behind a pair of triples. The dominating quarter propelled Troy to shooting 50 percent from the field, its highest percentage of the year, on 30-of-60 shooting. James ended the afternoon with a team-high 20-points, her fifth 20-point performance of the season and second-straight, while Rivers had 18-points, her third career game at App reaching double-digits. Joining the Trojan pair in double-digit scoring were Jasmine Robinson who score 14, Alexus Dye who scored 11 and Tyasia Moore who scored 10. This was the first game that Troy has had five scorers in double figures since Dec. 15 at Chattanooga.
In stark contrast from Thursday night where both Troy and Coastal eclipsed the century mark, Troy got back to playing lock down defense, holding App State to just 36 percent shooting from the field on 22-of-60 shooting. The Trojans held App State's Pre Stanley, averaging 18 points per game at home, to just four-points. Only one Mountaineer reached double figures in Lainey Gosnell who scored 13.
Records
Troy: 20-4 (11-2 SBC)
App State: 8-16 (5-8 SBC)
Quoting Coach Rigby
On another strong performance from Amber Rivers in Boone
"She's always played her best here and it's very hard to play here. We always seem to have a player play really well here and Amber came through once again tonight."
On shot selection in the game
"I was very pleased. It was very obvious in the first few minutes that their game plan was to just hold it until the clock ran down and slow the game down. Because of that we went to a full court press so when we did get the ball in our hands we started taking good shots."
On avoiding a letdown after Thursday
"I was very happy because you don't want a loss like the last one to get in your mind. We came out strong and responded very well and I am very pleased.
Notables
• Troy improved to 23-7 in games following a loss since 2015-16
• Kayla Robinson tied a career-high in assists for the second-straight game with five
• Troy recorded 40 total rebounds, its lowest rebounding total of the season and fewest in a game since recording 34 vs Arkansas State back on Feb. 8, 2018
• Troy has now won eight straight against App State
Up Next
The Trojans will close out their 2019-20 home slate on Thursday and Saturday of next week. Troy will host Sun Belt rival Little Rock on Thursday at 6 p.m. before hosting Arkansas State on Saturday at 4 p.m. On Saturday Troy will honor its five seniors as well as returning letter winners prior to the start of Saturdays game.
Follow TROY Women's Basketball
Social: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Join The Conversation: #GrindToShine | #OneTROY
Team Stats
TROY
APP
FG%
.500
.367
3FG%
.375
.308
FT%
.517
.813
RB
40
36
TO
15
16
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Players Mentioned
Ashley Beverly Kelley - Troy University Sports Hall of Fame
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Underdogs Untold: Title Ticket Punched
Friday, April 04
Chanda Rigby WNIT Championship Press Conference
Friday, April 04
Chanda Rigby Postgame Press Conference - Illinois State
Thursday, April 03