Troy University Athletics
Troy University
0-4,0-0Sun Belt
Belmont
4-3,0-0MVC
Foul Trouble Costs Women’s Basketball Against Belmont
11/29/2023 9:56:00 PM | Basketball (W)
TROY, Ala. – A lopsided foul count (24-to-11) cost Troy women's basketball Wednesday night in Trojan Arena, falling to Belmont 72-68 for a fourth straight loss to start the season.
Outside of the first quarter, Troy (0-4) outscored the Bruins (4-3) 58-50 as Nia Daniel (12), Ja'Mia Hollings (13) and Tai'Sheka Porchia (11) extended their double-digit scoring streak. However, Belmont outpaced Troy 22-10 in the first quarter and held on to win their second straight game.
Makayia Hallmon made her first appearance of 2023-24 with an 11-point, one assist and rebound performance to continue Troy's streak of 4-plus players scoring in double-figures.
Belmont went through their starters again, with all but five points coming from them. Tessa Miller and Kilyn McGruff led the charge with 18 apiece. McGruff also managed a double-double with 10 rebounds. Jailyn Banks (12) and Tuti Jones (13) also produced double-figures as the Bruins accrued 17 points from the charity stripe.
Forget the First
Troy found itself down 12, 22-10, to start the second quarter and Belmont kept the pressure going, expanding the lead to 14, 28-14, 2:22 in on an offensive rebound and 3-pointer from Jones.
Shaniah Nunn responded 0:18 later when she took the pass from Shaulana Wagner down low and scored the layup to spark a 7-0 run, 28-21, that lasted until 5:48 remaining in the half.
After going back-and-forth for the remainder of the second quarter on buckets from Gabbi Cartagena, Leilani Guion, Nunn, Porchia and Daniel, the Trojans managed to head into the locker room down eight, 40-32.
Hallmon jumpstarted the Trojans out of the gates in the second half, netting her seventh point 0:10 in from deep off a Sharonica Hartsfield assist, 40-35. Both teams remained stagnant through the third, with Troy cutting the deficit down to four on two occasions off a bucket from Zay Dyer and a second-chance bucket from Porchia. When the buzzer sounded for the third, the margin remained at eight, 58-50.
The fourth quarter saw Belmont take control early, pushing its lead to 11 on a jump shot from Banks in the pain, 63-52, at the 2:44 mark. The following possession saw the Porchia to Hollings connection come alive down low as No. 11 used the spin move to spark a 6-0 run.
The run saw two steals from 'Stixxs' and assists from Daniel and Porchia and was capped by Dyer off a Belmont turnover and Hartsfield assist, 63-58, forcing the timeout by the Bruins with 5:55 left.
Out of the timeout, Belmont's McGruff drew her sixth foul and made one shot at the free throw line to push the Bruin lead to six, 64-58 – 5:33 left. After one free throw per team, Banks tossed up a jumper that the Bruins looked to corral before Dyer ripped the ball out and started the fast break, spinning around the Belmont defense before finding Porchia down low, 65-61 and forcing another 30-second timeout with 2:24 remaining.
The foul game reared its head out of the break, as Belmont drew five fouls in the final two minutes and went 7-of-10 from the line, while Troy shot 2-of-6 and 1-of-2 from the line to falter, 72-68.
Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"In many ways, I'm very proud of the team because of the things we have worked on. This team has responded and gotten better at it. They really have gotten better, but we fell back in the first half with our toughness; we really did. They outmuscled us on a lot of rebounds. They were being more physical than us. That's something I did not expect, but again, we'll go back to the drawing board and work on that, but as far as our players playing hard and improving, they are doing that."
Hometown Numbers
• The Trojans couldn't beat the foul numbers, having 24 compared to Belmont's 11. This resulted in a 32-13 free throw attempt differential.
• Troy outmatched Belmont in nearly every statistical category, winning the points from turnovers (17-5), fast break points (17-5) bench points (26-5) and offensive rebounds (19-16).
• With 19 assists, the Trojans recorded a season-high with 8 of 10 players that checked in, dishing off at least one.
• Hartsfield seized a career high in the rebound category, grabbing nine – previous high was seven at Arkansas State on Jan. 5, 2023.
• Hollings' five steals marked a career-high and the first time she accumulated 5-plus steals – became the third Trojan on the roster to have at least one 5-plus steal game (Felmas Koranga, Hartsfield).
To Memphis, We Go
On Saturday, the Trojans head to Elma Roane Fieldhouse for a date with the Memphis Tigers at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
