Rigby, Dye and Koranga Headline Sun Belt Postseason Awards; Four Trojans Earn All-Sun Belt Honors

TROY, Ala. – The Troy women's basketball team collected numerous Sun Belt postseason awards in a vote by league head coaches and select media members, the Sun Belt Conference announced on Thursday, March 11. Chanda Rigby was named Coach of the Year, Alexus Dye was voted Player of the Year, Felmas Koranga was named the Newcomer of the Year and four total Trojans earned All-Sun Belt honors.

In addition to the three individual awards earned by the Trojans, Dye was named to the All-Sun Belt First Team, Felmas Koranga and Jasmine Robinson were named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team and Tiyah Johnson was named to the All-Sun Belt Third Team.

Dye becomes the first Troy women's basketball player in program history to be named the conference Player of the Year while Rigby becomes just the second coach in program history to be named the conference Coach of the Year. Koranga becomes the fourth Trojan, second under Rigby, to be named the Newcomer of the Year. Troy's four All-Sun Belt honorees are the most in a single-season in program history, breaking last season's program-best of three. Troy also becomes the first team since the 1997-98 season to have at least four All-Sun Belt honorees.

After guiding the Trojans to the most wins in the Sun Belt Conference for the second-straight season and the program's third Sun Belt Tournament title since 2016, Rigby earns her first career Sun Belt Coach of the Year honor. While navigating the COVID-19 season, Rigby led Troy to a 22-5 overall mark, the third straight season with at least 20 wins and the sixth time in her career, and a 15-2 record in the Sun Belt Conference. She led the Trojans to their best offensive season in its Division I history, averaging 86.2 points per game, the third-best scoring averaging in the nation. Par for her career, Troy was once again the best rebounding team in the NCAA. Troy ranks first nationally in total rebounds (1,410), rebounds per game (52.2) and defensive rebounds (32.9). Second nationally in offensive rebounds (19.3) and 10th in rebounding margin (+11.2). Under Rigby's leadership, the Trojans improved exponentially in assists and steals from last season. After ranking 398th in total assists (386) in the 2019-20 season, Troy currently ranks seventh (459 total assists) and after ranking 268th in steals (229 total steals) a season ago, Troy has improved to third nationally (286) this season. Over the past two seasons, Rigby has earned a 31-4 Sun Belt record, the best mark in the conference regardless of gender during that stretch. In her career, she has accumulated 106 Sun Belt victories, the sixth most all-time in the SBC. Rigby is the second coach in Troy's history to receive the award, joining Jerry Hester (1996-97).

Senior Alexus Dye was named the Sun Belt's best player, marking the first time in program history that a Trojan has earned that honor. Additionally, Dye was named an All-Sun Belt First Team honoree. Her selection marks the seventh first team honor for Troy under Rigby and the 16th selection in program history. Dye, who earned a league-leading three player of the week honors this season, led the NCAA in double-doubles with 22, five more than projected WNBA No. 1 overall draft pick Charli Collier of Texas who ranks second. The Birmingham native was one of only two players in the conference to average a double-double (16.2 ppg and 12.6 rpg) this season. Dye, who was a preseason first team all-conference selection after being named a second team all-conference selection last season, currently leads the NCAA in total rebounds (341) and ranks sixth in boards per game and eighth in defensive boards per contest (9.0). She's made the 10th most field goals (192) in the country, leading to the 38th most points scored (438). In the Sun Belt Tournament, Dye scored a career-high 37-points in Troy's opening round win over Texas State while averaging 22.6 ppg and 15.0 rpg during the Trojans' run to their conference championship. Dye leads the Sun Belt in both points and rebounds per game.

Junior Felmas Koranga was named the Sun Belt's Newcomer of the Year, marking the fourth time in program history and the second time under Rigby, that a Trojan has been named the Newcomer of the Year. Additionally, Koranga was named an All-Sun Belt Second Team honoree. Koranga, a transfer from Tyler Junior College, earned preseason third team honors before she had even played a Division I basketball game and all she did was exceed those preseason accolades. Koranga, a native of Nakuru, Kenya, was one of only two players in the Sun Belt Conference to average a double-double this season (12.5 ppg and 11.1 rpg) while ranking 31st nationally for the most double-doubles with 11. Koranga, who is the first Kenyan born student-athlete to play Division I Women's Basketball, has been a machine on the glass this season, ranking sixth nationally in offensive boards per game (4.8), 19th in total rebounds (245) and 22nd in rebounds per game (11.1). Her 12.5 ppg ranks 10th in the SBC while her 11.1 boards per game rank second. On the defensive end, Koranga also had an impressive season. Her 1.5 steals per game average ranked 11th in the conference while her 0.8 blocked shots per game ranked ninth.

Senior Jasmine Robinson was named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team after a strong senior campaign that saw her average 11.4 points per game and a career-high 4.6 assists per game. Robinson, who was a second team preseason honoree this season after being named to the third team last season, currently ranks 28th nationally, fourth in the SBC, in total assists (114) and 64th nationally in assists per game. Robinson earned her first career player of the week honor on Feb. 25 after averaging 14.3 ppg and 5.0 assists per game in Troy's three wins over Georgia State. Since conference play started Robinson has been on another level. The Augusta, Ga. native has scored in double figures 12 times, including a career-high 33-point performance against Ga. Southern on Feb. 5. She set a career-high in assists with 10 on Feb. 27 and she has recorded at least nine assists in three of the last four games. Robinson joined the exclusive 1,000-point club on Feb. 20 as the 25th member with an impressive 18-point performance against Ga. State.

Senior Tiyah Johnson was named to the All-Sun Belt Third Team after a dominant senior season where she finished second on the team in scoring (13.1 ppg) while also averaging 4.6 rebounds per game. Johnson was one of the most improved players in the Sun Belt this season. The Phenix City, Ala. native more than doubled her points per game average from last season to this season after averaging just 6.0 points per game in her first season as a Trojan. Her points per game weren't the only stat that took a major jump in 2021. She improved her field goal percentage by nearly 10 percent (.311 to .399) and her three-point field goal percentage by over five percentage points (.260 t0 .323). She nearly tripled her assists (16 to 45) and doubled her steals (21 to 40). On her way to an all-conference honor, Johnson scored a career-high 30 points in Troy's record-setting 131-point game and became the first Trojan since 2016 to score at least 30-points in a single game. Johnson's 30-point performance earned her player of the week honors for the first time in her career. In the Sun Belt Tournament Johnson came up clutch on multiple occasions. The biggest moment came in Troy's first game vs Texas State when Johnson, who scored just five points in the first 40-minutes, scored seven points in the first two minutes of overtime, including a 4-point play that sealed the victory for Troy.

2020-21 SUN BELT WOMEN'S BASKETBALL POSTSEASON HONORS

Player of the Year
Alexus Dye, Troy

Coach of the Year
Chanda Rigby, Troy

Newcomer of the Year
Felmas Koranga, Troy

Defensive Player of the Year
Ty'Reona Doucet, Louisiana

Freshman of the Year
Terren Ward, Georgia Southern

All-Sun Belt First Team
Alexus Dye, Troy
Pre Stanley, App State
Ty'Reona Doucet, Louisiana
Antoinette Lewis, South Alabama
Da'Nasia Hood, Texas State

All-Sun Belt Second Team
Felmas Koranga, Troy
Jasmine Robinson, Troy
Brandi Williams, Louisiana
Teal Battle, Little Rock
Lainey Gosnell, Appalachian State

All-Sun Belt Third Team
Tiyah Johnson, Troy
Aja Blount, Coastal Carolina
Skyler Goodwin, Louisiana
Taylor Hosendove, Georgia State
Mayra Caicedo, Little Rock

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Troy University Athletics

Rigby, Dye and Koranga Headline Sun Belt Postseason Awards; Four Trojans Earn All-Sun Belt Honors

Players Mentioned

Alexus Dye

Tiyah Johnson

Felmas Koranga

Jasmine Robinson

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