UNDISPUTED - Troy Clinches SBC Tournament, NCAA Berth with Wire-to-Wire Victory Over Louisiana

Monday, March 8

Pensacola, Fla.

1 p.m.

Troy University

22-5,15-2Sun Belt

Louisiana (SBC Championship Game)

16-6,13-1Sun Belt

Troy

Louisiana

UNDISPUTED - Troy Clinches SBC Tournament, NCAA Berth with Wire-to-Wire Victory Over Louisiana

3/8/2021 4:43:00 PM | Basketball (W)

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Undisputed. Champions.

After winning a Sun Belt-best 19 regular season games and 15 league games, Troy finished the deal Monday afternoon, downing top-seeded Louisiana, 73-65, in wire-to-wire fashion, to clinch the 2021 Sun Belt Women's Basketball Tournament Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The bid is Troy's third in the last five seasons that a tournament has been completed.

The Trojans (22-5) led by as many as 15 points and led by no fewer than seven over the final 25 minutes and 13 seconds of game action. The Trojans led by at least 10 points for nearly 12 minutes of the 40-minute contest.

In the victory, Felmas Koranga flexed her dominance inside contributing 12 points and a Troy Sun Belt Tournament record 22 rebounds, while Sun Belt Tournament Most Outstanding Player Alexus Dye contributed 11 points and 14 rebounds for her NCAA-best 22nd double-double of the season. Koranga's double-double was her 11th of the season, as the forward recorded a cool 11 offensive boards to power the Trojans to 24 of the 26 second-chance points that were scored in the contest.

Senior Jasmine Robinson scored 17 points and dished out nine assists to bring her Sun Belt Tournament average to 15.0 points. The Georgia native was named to the All-Sun Belt Tournament team after averaging 15 points and seven assists a game.

The Trojans, behind back-to-back triples from Robinson, raced out to an early 6-2 lead with 8:59 to play in the opening quarter.

After Louisiana scored five of the next six points to cut the Troy lead to just 8-7, the Trojans locked in on the defensive end, holding the potent Ragin' Cajuns (16-6) scoreless for the final 4:31 of the period. Led by Robinson and Tyasia Moore the Trojans outscored Louisiana, 7-0.

Following the quarter break, Louisiana used a quick 5-0 run over the first 31 seconds of the quarter to cut the Troy lead to just 14-12.

Powered by Koranga and senior Tiyah Johnson, the Trojans scored 18 of the next 23 points to take a first-half best 32-17 lead with 1:20 to play in the period. After Louisiana scored the next five to cut the Troy lead to just 32-22, Johnson and Sharonica Hartsfield contributed back-to-back baskets to give the Trojans a 36-22 lead at the break.

Louisiana opened the second half with six of the first eight points to cut the Trojans lead to 38-28, but the Trojans led by Koranga and Dye scored 11 of the next 17 to take a 47-32 lead with 6:17 to play.

A 9-1 Ragin' Cajuns run cut the Troy lead to just 50-41, but the Trojans showed their championship pedigree scoring eight of the final 12 points of the period to take a 56-45 lead into the final period of play.

Needing an answer, Louisiana scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to cut the Trojans advantage to just 56-53 with 8:45 to play.

Then, Koranga took over. The former Tyler Junior College product scored six of Troy's next eight points, powering the Trojans to an 8-0 run that increased a three-point lead to 11 with 5:28 left.

A mini 5-0 run by the Cajuns cut the once 15-point Trojan advantage back down to just six, but Janiah Sandifer hit her second and final triple of the contest to give the Trojans a 67-58 lead with 3:47 left.

After Korenga's jumper with 2:14 to play put the Trojans back up by 11, Louisiana used another 5-0 run to cut the Troy lead to just three, 69-63, with 86 seconds to play.

Needing to salt the game away from the line, the Trojans did just that, hitting all four of their free throws to seal a 73-65 victory and secure the programs' third NCAA Tournament bid under head coach Chanda Rigby.

For the contest, the Trojans shot a blistering 7-of-13 from behind the arc, and outrebounded Louisiana 58-40 overall and 24-12 on the offensive glass.

The Trojans will find out their fate next Monday, March 15, when the entire field of 64 will be announced live on ESPN. Coverage begins at 6 p.m.

Quotable – Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"We're just extremely thankful and grateful to be here. There are so many great teams and coaches in this league, and we just feel really blessed to be in this situation. We knew facing Louisiana and coach Garry Brodhead would be a challenge, and they had a great game plan. A lot of people felt like if they could keep our two post players in check, they would have a chance to win; and they did that today. Alexus [Dye] didn't really have a lot of points in the first half and they were focusing heavily on her, which allowed other people to step up. I cannot say enough about our bench. Jhileiya Dunlap, Tyasia Moore and Emely [Rosario] came in the first half and allowed us to have the lead we did at the half.

"I wanted to mention the seniors from last year because there is a part of me that grieves because we couldn't experience the win with them. Some of their parents were actually here in attendance and I saw them in the stands. The group of five seniors last year paved the way a bit for this year's team. They won an outright regular season championship but due to COVID they didn't get to come to this tournament and defend it. They're with us in spirit and I'm not sure if we would have won this championship without that group. They pushed a lot of our players from this year's team every day and instilled the belief that we could do it. I'm glad we finish it for them."

Sun Belt Tournament MVP Alexus Dye
On Louisiana cutting it to 3 and the team staying calm
"Rebounding. We had to get rebounds offensively and defensively we had to box out and it just really all came down to rebounding and great defense."

Was Louisiana a tough team to play against since they are a great defensive team
"Yes, they were, but we were kinda like slowing down and playing their tempo when we should have been playing our tempo."

Notables:
• Led by Jasmine Robinson, the Trojans had 21 assists on their 28 made baskets today.
• It was the Trojans' eighth 20-assist game of the season.
• The Trojans improved to 2-0 vs. Louisiana in the Sun Belt Tournament Championship Game. Troy defeated Louisiana 78-64 back in 2017.
• Troy improved to 3-1 all-time against the Cajuns in the SBC Tournament.
• As a number one seed, Troy improved to 6-0 all-time. The Trojans were the top seed in the 1997 Mid-Con Tournament.
• Troy will be representing the Sun Belt Conference for the third time in the NCAA Tournament, and will be making the program's fourth appearance in the big dance.
• In the last nine years under Rigby, the Trojans have now made five postseason appearances. The Trojans had made just one all-time appearance prior to her arrival.
• Troy improved to 13-13 all-time in the tournament and now have won 10 of 12 in the Sun Belt Conference.
• Felmas Koranga scored eight of her 12 in the final period of play. She contributed 10 rebounds and two blocks in her nine minutes of action in the period.
• Troy outscored Louisiana 24-2 on second-chance points.
• Alexus Dye recorded her seventh consecutive game with at least 10 rebounds. The forward has 23 games with at least 10 rebounds.