Troy University Athletics
Troy Women’s Basketball – Juniors
11/8/2023 9:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
TROY, Ala. – Six juniors (Shaulana Wagner, Sharonica Hartsfield, Leilani Guion, Leilani Augmon, Gabbi Cartagena, Sara Carvajal Caro) embark on their 2023-24 season in three days when they make their regular season debut in Trojan Arena.
"It's exciting to see the talent in this class and know we can have them in a Troy uniform for two more years," head coach Chanda Rigby said. "All three of our point guards are in this class: Shaulana, Ronnie, and Stitch. These three-floor generals each have their own strengths."
Standing 5-10, Wagner comes to Troy from Wabash Valley, where she played two seasons. Before that, she played one season at Xavier in 11 games with two starts for 4.1 points. While at Wabash, she competed one season, averaging 24.3 minutes after starting all 33 games and earning GRAC and Region 24 Player of the Year.
Wagner excelled in scoring the ball, setting a program record of 47 points on 17-of-31 from the field against Three Rivers Community College. Through 33 games, she averaged 19.9 points on 44.7 percent from the field, 27.3 from deep and 68.1 from the charity stripe.
"Wagner is the best I've seen at getting to the goal," Rigby said. "She's going to be elite for us this season."
'Ronnie' returns to Troy for her fourth season in the cardinal and white. She comes off a 2022-23 campaign where she started in 27 of 29 games played, scoring 4.3 points. Hartsfield excelled via the passing game, ranking seventh in the SBC in assists (3.6) and dishing off 3-plus assists in 20 games, with her season-high of 10 coming at UT-Martin.
UT-Martin saw the best of Hartsfield outside her 10 assists as she stuffed the stat sheet with eight steals, six points and four rebounds. Her defensive ability also shined in 2022-23, ranking third in the league and first for Troy with two steals per game.
"Sharonica's been playing our point guard spot for a couple of years and knows how to deliver in our up-tempo system," Rigby said.
After three seasons with Eastern Florida, a First-Team All-Central Conference and NJCAA Region VII All-State nod, Guion joins the Trojans as a junior. After starting 12-of-35 games in 2022-23, the guard enters the D-I level, where she shot 41.4 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from deep and 77.2 percent from the stripe.
At 5-10, 'Stitch' has championship DNA, leading Eastern Florida with 13 points against Northwest Florida State College in the NJCAA Championship game. Overall, she averaged 11.1 points, 3.6 assists and 2.8 rebounds, totaling 21 double-digit scoring games with two at 20-plus points.
"Stitch is a bigger guard who is comfortable breaking presses and has a disciplined scoring mentality," Rigby said.
The second transfer from an opposing SBC school sees Augmon from Arkansas State after two years in Jonesboro. Augmon redshirted her first year before erupting onto the scene with eight points and 4.6 rebounds through 24 games and six starts. She made her D-I debut at North Alabama and finished with 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Saturday won't be the junior's first game in Trojan Arena, having scored her career-high 16 points at Troy on 4-of-9 from the field and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. That ended as one of her eight double-digit scoring performances.
"Augmon is just a perfect fit for Troy basketball," Rigby said. "She uses her length on defense and rebounding and really shoots the ball well."
Moving into her third season with the Trojans, Cartagena prepares to make a giant leap after averaging 10.4 minutes through 30 games and one start. In 2022-23, she shot the Trojans' highest field goal percentage in a single game with 83.3 percent at UT-Martin to score her season-high 14 points on four made triples.
Cartagena also started her first career game against South Alabama, finishing with seven points, two steals, four rebounds and two assists. Through 30 games, the 5-8 guard managed 3.2 points on 30 percent from the field.
"We expect Gabbi to contribute on both sides of the ball this season," Rigby said. "She was Georgia's best scorer her senior year of high school, and we are looking forward to seeing that talent boost our offensive numbers this year."
The final junior on the roster comes from her native land of Spain and Monroe College, where she competed for two seasons. Caro competed in 30 games last season, starting in 19 for 541 total minutes. In that time, Caro averaged 7.6 points on 52.9 percent from the field – ranked first for Monroe.
At 6-3, Caro also tallied two double-doubles, with her best performance coming against Westchester Community College with 18 points and 13 rebounds. All season, she maintained high efficiency, including her career-high of 24 points on 9-of-10 from the field against Nassau Community College.
"Sara offers a unique skill set from our other post players," Rigby said. "She is skilled in back-to-basket moves and has a great finishing touch around the rim."
These six juniors make their 2023-24 debut on Saturday at 3:33 p.m. in Trojan when they invite Ball State for game one of the MAC-SBC Challenge.
"It's exciting to see the talent in this class and know we can have them in a Troy uniform for two more years," head coach Chanda Rigby said. "All three of our point guards are in this class: Shaulana, Ronnie, and Stitch. These three-floor generals each have their own strengths."
Standing 5-10, Wagner comes to Troy from Wabash Valley, where she played two seasons. Before that, she played one season at Xavier in 11 games with two starts for 4.1 points. While at Wabash, she competed one season, averaging 24.3 minutes after starting all 33 games and earning GRAC and Region 24 Player of the Year.
Wagner excelled in scoring the ball, setting a program record of 47 points on 17-of-31 from the field against Three Rivers Community College. Through 33 games, she averaged 19.9 points on 44.7 percent from the field, 27.3 from deep and 68.1 from the charity stripe.
"Wagner is the best I've seen at getting to the goal," Rigby said. "She's going to be elite for us this season."
'Ronnie' returns to Troy for her fourth season in the cardinal and white. She comes off a 2022-23 campaign where she started in 27 of 29 games played, scoring 4.3 points. Hartsfield excelled via the passing game, ranking seventh in the SBC in assists (3.6) and dishing off 3-plus assists in 20 games, with her season-high of 10 coming at UT-Martin.
UT-Martin saw the best of Hartsfield outside her 10 assists as she stuffed the stat sheet with eight steals, six points and four rebounds. Her defensive ability also shined in 2022-23, ranking third in the league and first for Troy with two steals per game.
"Sharonica's been playing our point guard spot for a couple of years and knows how to deliver in our up-tempo system," Rigby said.
After three seasons with Eastern Florida, a First-Team All-Central Conference and NJCAA Region VII All-State nod, Guion joins the Trojans as a junior. After starting 12-of-35 games in 2022-23, the guard enters the D-I level, where she shot 41.4 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from deep and 77.2 percent from the stripe.
At 5-10, 'Stitch' has championship DNA, leading Eastern Florida with 13 points against Northwest Florida State College in the NJCAA Championship game. Overall, she averaged 11.1 points, 3.6 assists and 2.8 rebounds, totaling 21 double-digit scoring games with two at 20-plus points.
"Stitch is a bigger guard who is comfortable breaking presses and has a disciplined scoring mentality," Rigby said.
The second transfer from an opposing SBC school sees Augmon from Arkansas State after two years in Jonesboro. Augmon redshirted her first year before erupting onto the scene with eight points and 4.6 rebounds through 24 games and six starts. She made her D-I debut at North Alabama and finished with 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Saturday won't be the junior's first game in Trojan Arena, having scored her career-high 16 points at Troy on 4-of-9 from the field and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. That ended as one of her eight double-digit scoring performances.
"Augmon is just a perfect fit for Troy basketball," Rigby said. "She uses her length on defense and rebounding and really shoots the ball well."
Moving into her third season with the Trojans, Cartagena prepares to make a giant leap after averaging 10.4 minutes through 30 games and one start. In 2022-23, she shot the Trojans' highest field goal percentage in a single game with 83.3 percent at UT-Martin to score her season-high 14 points on four made triples.
Cartagena also started her first career game against South Alabama, finishing with seven points, two steals, four rebounds and two assists. Through 30 games, the 5-8 guard managed 3.2 points on 30 percent from the field.
"We expect Gabbi to contribute on both sides of the ball this season," Rigby said. "She was Georgia's best scorer her senior year of high school, and we are looking forward to seeing that talent boost our offensive numbers this year."
The final junior on the roster comes from her native land of Spain and Monroe College, where she competed for two seasons. Caro competed in 30 games last season, starting in 19 for 541 total minutes. In that time, Caro averaged 7.6 points on 52.9 percent from the field – ranked first for Monroe.
At 6-3, Caro also tallied two double-doubles, with her best performance coming against Westchester Community College with 18 points and 13 rebounds. All season, she maintained high efficiency, including her career-high of 24 points on 9-of-10 from the field against Nassau Community College.
"Sara offers a unique skill set from our other post players," Rigby said. "She is skilled in back-to-basket moves and has a great finishing touch around the rim."
These six juniors make their 2023-24 debut on Saturday at 3:33 p.m. in Trojan when they invite Ball State for game one of the MAC-SBC Challenge.
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