Troy Downs Arkansas State for 11th Straight Time

Thursday, January 5

Jonesboro, Ark.

7 p.m.

Troy University

7-7,2-1Sun Belt

Arkansas State

5-9,0-3Sun Belt

Troy

Arkansas St.

Troy Downs Arkansas State for 11th Straight Time

1/5/2023 9:48:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

JONESBORO, Ark. – Nia Daniel dropped in 17 points, and Makayia Hallmon added 15 to lead Troy to an 83-67 victory at Arkansas State Thursday night in Sun Belt action at First National Bank Arena. The win was the Trojans' 11^th straight in the series and sixth straight conference road victory.

Troy (7-7, 2-1 SBC) held Arkansas State (5-9, 0-3) to just 31 points in the second half, all while dominating the boards and the paint. Troy, the nation's top rebounding and offensive rebounding team, outrebounded the Red Wolves by a 56-38 margin, thanks to 25 offensive rebounds, which led to 26 second chance points.

"We played really hard and with a lot of intensity like you have to on the road," head coach Chanda Rigby said. "It was a great team effort and we played with a lot of energy. You can't always bank on making shots, but you can play great defense and shoot great from the free throw line, which we did tonight."

The Trojans outscored the Red Wolves by a 36-18 margin in the paint as they scored 75-plus points for the seventh straight game; their longest such streak in two years and just the second time they've done it in seven straight games in six seasons.

Additionally, Troy held Arkansas State to just 33.3 percent shooting from the floor and forced 20 turnovers which it turned into 20 points.

Daniel hit on 6-of-15 from the floor and added a pair from beyond the arc, marking her seventh straight game with a 3-pointer. Hallmon added three rebounds and four assists to go along with her eighth double-digit scoring performance of the season.

The biggest surprise of the ballgame was the return of Amber Leggett to the floor. Troy's All-Sun Belt Third Team selection and second-leading scorer and rebounder last season returned to the squad this week after she stepped away from basketball before the season. Leggett scored 12 points and pulled six rebounds in 13 minutes of action.

Troy led 42-36 at the half, but the game wasn't that close. The Trojans led by 14, 38-24, with just over three minutes to play following a Tai'Sheka Porchia layup, but the Red Wolves hit four 3-pointers in the final three minutes of the half, most from well beyond the arc, to cut the lead to six.

Daniel's stepback 3-pointer with 2:20 to play in the third capped a 16-6 run that stretched the Troy lead to its largest of the night at 62-46. The Trojans' lead swelled to as many as 21 points, 76-55, in the fourth quarter and never fell back into single digits.

Janeen Camp pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and just missed out on her second straight double-double as she made her second start of the season for the Trojans, while Jada Walton and Sharonica Hartsfield both added seven boards and Porchia had eight.

Annaliese Griffin scored a game-high 22 points to pace the Red Wolves, who saw three players account for 73 percent of their offensive production.

Notable
• Troy has outscored its last two opponents (Texas State, Arkansas State) by a 74-32 margin in the paint after Southern Miss outscored the Trojans 46-16 in the paint in the conference opener.

• Troy has scored 70-plus points in 12-of-14 games this season and 75-plus points in seven straight games.

• The Trojans have now won six straight Sun Belt Conference games on opponents' home courts and 13 of the last 14.

• Tai'Sheka Porchia saw her double-figure scoring streak end at seven games after she finished with nine points; seven of her nine points came at the free throw line.

• The Trojans connected on 23-of-26 free throws in the game; it marked the 12^th time in 14 games this season that Troy has made 10-plus free throws and snapped a two-game streak where they made just nine.

• Troy has won 36 of its last 41 and 43 of its last 49 league games.

• The Trojans made four 3-pointers in the game and are now 5-3 on the year when making five or fewer shots from beyond the arc.

• Troy won for the second time this season when shooting 37 percent from the floor; the Trojans hit 28-of-75 shots (37.3 percent); the other victory came in the season opener at Samford, where they shot just 27.5 percent.

Up Next
Troy travels to Georgia State (8-8, 2-1) on Saturday. The Panthers are coming off a 66-57 win over South Alabama on Thursday.