Troy Falters Late in Sun Belt Opener

Thursday, December 29

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

5-7,0-1Sun Belt

Southern Miss

8-4,1-0Sun Belt

Southern Miss.

Troy

12/29/2022 9:11:00 PM | Basketball (W)

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – Troy went cold from the floor at the worst possible time missing its final eight shots in a 77-75 loss to Southern Miss in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams Thursday night in Trojan Arena. It was just Troy's fifth conference loss in its last 39 league games and snapped a nine-game SBC winning streak for the Trojans.

Troy (5-7, 0-1 SBC) led by seven, 74-67, with 4:49 to play following a Tai'Sheka Porchia jumper. This would be the Trojans' final field goal of the game as the Golden Eagles (8-4, 1-0) went on a 10-1 run to close out the game with four points coming at the charity stripe and four points on second-chance opportunities.

Nia Daniel tied her career-high with 28 points on 11-of-25 shooting, including 5-of-10 from 3-point range, to lead all scorers in the game, while Porchia added 14 points for the only other Trojan in double-figures.

"Southern Miss had a great game plan and they kept making adjustments," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "The kids played hard, we switched to every defense we had, and they had an answer for it. We just have to go back to the drawing board; we feel like we're better than we played today."

Domonique Davis led four Golden Eagles in double-figures with 22 points and drew a game-high seven fouls; she hit 7-of-8 free throws. Southern Miss was a tale of two teams in the game, shooting at least 63 percent in the second and fourth quarters while shooting less than 42 percent in the other two quarters.

The Trojans had a chance to send the game to overtime as Daniel was fouled with 0.7 seconds remaining in the game. However, she missed the front end of the two attempts, and Troy was called for a lane violation on her second try.

Southern Miss dominated the paint outscoring Troy by a 46-16 margin thanks to a combined 28 points by Femi Feneus and Melyia Grayson. The Trojans, who entered the game leading the country in offensive rebounds, pulled down 22 offensive boards in the game but managed to transition that to 14 second chance points, while the Golden Eagles turned 11 offensive boards into 14 points.

Troy led by as many as 10 in the opening half in a game that featured 10 ties and four lead changes. The last time the Trojans lost their Sun Belt opener (2020), they went on to win the SBC Tournament title and nearly upset No. 4 Texas A&M in the NCAA Tournament.

The Trojans return home on Saturday to play host to Texas State at 2 p.m. in Trojan Arena.