Women's Hoops Runs Win Streak to Five Games with Overtime Victory over Louisiana

Saturday, January 14

Troy, Ala.

4 p.m.

Troy University

10-7,5-1Sun Belt

Louisiana

9-9,3-3Sun Belt

OT 1

Louisiana

Troy

Women's Hoops Runs Win Streak to Five Games with Overtime Victory over Louisiana

1/14/2023 7:26:00 PM | Basketball (W)

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – The top defensive team in the Sun Belt Conference entered Trojan Arena on Saturday, but it was Troy's offense that was once again the story as the Trojans defeated Louisiana, 85-78, in overtime for their fifth straight win.

Troy (10-7, 5-1 SBC) doubled up Louisiana (9-9, 3-3) in overtime, 14-7, after the Cajuns used an 11-3 run over the final 5:11 of the fourth quarter to send the game to the extra session.

The Trojans hit the 75-point mark for the 10th straight game and did so against the Sun Belt's top-scoring defense; the Cajuns entered Saturday allowing just 54.1 points per game. Troy's 85 points scored are the most allowed by Louisiana this season and snapped a streak of seven straight games holding its opponent to less than 70 points.

"I'm very thankful for everything," head coach Chanda Rigby said. "The crowd that was here, the Sound of the South, we needed everybody because this is such a hard team to beat. These are the two most hard-nosed teams in the conference, and they came out and shot the ball really well.

"Our goal was to keep them out of the paint and stop their dribble drive, and we did that well," Rigby said. "I'm so proud of our players. This was an important game for us because we lost a game in overtime this year, and we need that feeling that we can do this."

Nia Daniel scored a game-high 22 points, including eight of Troy's 14 points in the extra session for her fourth 20-point game of the season. Tai'Sheka Porchia added 17 points and nine rebounds, while Ja'Mai Hollings dropped in 16 points off the bench and Makayia Hallmon scored 10 points against her former team, including a big 3-pointer on the first possession of overtime.

In her fourth game back and first start, Amber Leggett finished with a double-double for the second straight game with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jada Walton came up big on the defensive end with four of Troy's 14 steals.

Troy trailed by three, 42-39, with 7:03 to play in the third quarter and used a 12-5 over the next six minutes to build a 4-point advantage to eventually lead by one heading into the fourth quarter.

The Trojans' lead grew to eight, 68-60, after an old-fashioned 3-point play from Leggett with 2:25 to play, but the Cajuns scored 11 of the game's next 14 points, including a 3-pointer by Tamara Johnson to tie the game with 17 seconds remaining.
Troy turned it over on the ensuing possession, but Louisiana couldn't connect on two shots in the final seconds of the game, thus forcing overtime.

Lanay Wheaton scored 20 points to lead four Cajuns in double-figures, while Wheaton, Destiny Rice and Johnson each pulled down six rebounds.

Hallmon drilled a 3-pointer from the corner 30 seconds into the extra period, and Troy's lead grew to 79-73 with just over two minutes to play on a layup from Daniel following a block and rebound by Walton on the other end.

The Trojans shot 44.4 percent from the floor (36-of-72) for their second-best performance of the year against a Division I opponent, this coming against a team that was holding SBC opponents to 37.9 percent shooting.

Up Next
A daunting road trip awaits the Trojans as they head north to a pair of league newcomers in Marshall on Thursday and James Madison on Saturday. JMU currently sits at the top of the league standings at 6-0 and 16-2 overall.

Notable
• The Trojans have won 39 of their last 44 and 46 of their last 52 Sun Belt games.
• Troy finished 4-of-13 from 3-point range in the game and improved to 9-3 on the year when making five or fewer 3-points; the Trojans are 1-4 when making six or more 3-pointers.
• Chanda Rigby is 55-7 in her last 62 games vs. Sun Belt teams.
• Troy is an impressive 40-7 inside the friendly confines of Trojan Arena over the last four seasons.
• Troy improved to 37-5 in its last 42 Sun Belt Conference home games.
• The Trojans have made 10-plus free throws in 15-of-17 games this season and 15-plus free throws in nine different contests; Troy was 17-of-25 from the line against ULM.
• Troy has now scored 70-plus points in 15-of-17 games this season. Troy's 10 straight games with 75-plus points are tied for the most since the 2020-21 team did the same. No Troy team has done so in 11 straight games in program history.
• Nia Daniel's 22 points were her team-leading seventh game as Troy's top scorer, trying her with Mae Mae Hallmon, who took the lead from Daniel on Thursday night.
• The win was Troy's first in overtime since knocking off Texas State in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Sun Belt Tournament in overtime.
• Troy outrebounded Louisiana, 47-40, snapping a two-game skid of being outrebounded. The Trojans have won the rebounding battle in 11-of-17 games this season.
• Troy held Louisiana to just 23 percent shooting in overtime (3-of-13) after the Cajuns shot 43 percent or better in each of the first four quarters.