Troy Women’s Basketball Claims Regular Season Title

Thursday, February 24

Boone, N.C.

5 p.m.

Troy University

21-7,12-2Sun Belt

Appalachian State

13-11,7-4Sun Belt

Troy

Appalachian St.

Troy Women’s Basketball Claims Regular Season Title

2/24/2022 8:29:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Box Score

By: Troy Athletics Communications

BOONE, N.C. – The Troy Women's Basketball squad took claim to the Sun Belt Regular Season Championship after downing Appalachian State in convincing fashion, 89-56, Thursday night at the Holmes Convocation Center.

The Trojans (21-7, 12-2 Sun Belt) have taken claim to the Sun Belt regular season or tournament title in five of the last seven seasons.

Led by 18 points from Felmas Koranga, the Trojans finished the game with four players in double figures – Koranga (18), Janiah Sandifer (14), Tina Stephens (11) and Tiyah Johnson (10).

How It Happened
The Trojans and Mountaineers battled toe-to-toe through the opening six minutes of action. After a pair of makes from the charity stripe by Johnson gave Troy a 12-8 lead, an Appalachian State layup and free throw cut the lead back to one at the 4:09 mark.

Troy quickly retaliated with back-to-back triples from Sandifer and Johnson to give Troy a 18-11 lead with 2:39 left to play. The Mountaineers cut the deficit back to five, but a three-pointer from Sandifer and a turnaround jumper by Koranga gave Troy a 25-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.

With a 10-point advantage in hand, both sides traded buckets until the 5:19 mark, where Koranga banked a layup and Johnson knocked down a triple to give the Trojans a 35-22 lead. A pair of layups from Appalachian State's Faith Alston cut into Troy;s double-digit advantage, but a pair of free throws from Jasmine Robinson saw the Trojans up 42-33 at the break.

Koranga quickly advanced Troy's lead back to double-digits with a jumper, and the Trojans never looked back. Troy opened the quarter on a 12-2 run that saw the Trojans up 54-35 with 4:29 to go in the third. A Jhileiya Dunlap jumper gave the Trojans their largest lead of the quarter at 63-41, but a pair of Mountaineer free throws cut the deficit to 63-43 just before the end of the third.

Troy's offense never let its foot off the gas, opening the fourth period on a 10-0 run. Gabbi Cartagena had the final say so for the Trojans, banking in a shot from behind the arc to set up the 89-56 final.

Quotable – Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"Our women's basketball program always strives to be a proper representation of our institution. The only way to properly represent Troy is with a championship. We are very grateful to have won a fifth championship in the last seven years, but our ultimate goal is ahead of us. We still have work to do. We have the Sun Belt Tournament to win, and we want to win in the NCAA Tournament."

Notable

Alongside her 18 points, Felmas Koranga snagged 13 boards, good for her 13^th double-double of the season.
Tina Stephens joined Koranga with a double-double after posting 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Led by 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc by Janiah Sandifer, the Trojans shot a season-best 55.6-percent from three-point range.
Troy has secured a first-round bye in the Sun Belt Tournament.

Next Up
Troy travels to the seaside to take on Coastal Carolina in the final regular season matchup of the 2021-22 season Saturday. Tipoff from the HTC Center is set for 1 p.m.