Women’s Basketball Falls to No. 24/25 Alabama

Sunday, November 10

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

2 p.m.

Troy University

0-3,0-0Sun Belt

Alabama

3-0,0-0SEC

Troy

Alabama

Women’s Basketball Falls to No. 24/25 Alabama

11/10/2024 5:50:00 PM | Basketball (W)

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Troy women's basketball team fought against No. 24/25 Alabama but fell to the ranked opposition, 94-71, on Sunday afternoon in the Coleman Coliseum.

Despite winning the third quarter, 19-18, and holding the Crimson Tide (3-0) to 10-of-32 from behind the arc, the Trojans fell to 0-3 for a second straight season.

Ashley Baez led the Trojans on the scoreboard with a third straight game in double-figures (14). She secured a new career-high, going 4-of-4 from deep. Emani Jenkins found her rhythm off the bench with a career-high 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting. No. 3 also connected from deep with three makes. Leilani Guion also revived her scoring abilities, coming one point short of double-digit (9).

All five starters for the Crimson Tide finished with 10-plus points, with Zaay Green atop the leaderboard with 25 points. She shot 9-of-14 from the field and 5-of-8 at the line. Behind her was Aaliyah Nye (18), Karly Weathers (14), Sarah Ashlee Barker (12) and Essence Cody (10). Ashlee Barker stuffed the stat sheet with four steals, eight rebounds and three assists.

Fourth Quarter Control
Despite a make from Green to open the second half, 52-33, Troy controlled the start to the second half when Baez drilled a triple, 52-36, to open a 7-0 run. The run ended at the 3:02 mark with a pair of free throws from Fortuna Ngnawo, 52-42.

Alabama responded over the next 2:27 as Nye polished a 9-2 run with a triple to push its lead back to 19, 61-42. The Trojans fought back through the rest of the third, outscoring Alabama 10-5, which ended on a turnaround jumper from Briana Peguero to cut the deficit to 15, 67-52.

The fourth quarter opened with both sides delivering blows. Shaulana Wagner answered a layup for Weathers by hitting a pair of free throws, 70-54, 0:36 in.

A 5-0 run off three free throws and a lay-in by Green followed Wagner's made free throws to expand the lead to 21, 75-54, with 8:20 remaining. Baez drilled a triple, and Khila Morris connected at the line with 6:04 left to bring the margin back to 19, 79-60. But Alabama controlled the remainder of the game, pushing its lead to 25, 93-68, with under a minute remaining. Jenkins hit her third triple of the ballgame, but the Crimson Tide made one more at the charity stripe to finish a 94-71 victory.

Stay in the Fight
Alabama got off to a hot start, including an 11-0 run with three triples (two from Nye) to hold a 16-4 lead at the 3:58 mark. A lodged ball and 1:32 of scoreless play flipped the script towards Troy.

A quick series of events saw Morris secure a defensive rebound. After missing a jumper on the other end, Alabama earned possession for 0:04 before Adriana Jones sprinted to force the bad pass on Ashlee Barker. A missed triple saw Ngnawo camped under the basketball, where she grabbed the offensive board and finished, 16-6.

Christabel Ezumah converted a free throw, but Jenkins matched and added a pair as Morris found her on the fastbreak for the triple, 17-9, with 3:30 remaining.

Back-and-forth play between the Alabama programs saw the margin sit at 10, 21-11, with 2:48 left in the first. However, the Trojans quickly caught fire as Brianna Jackson drove to the basket and finished inside, 21-13. The post players kept Troy rolling when Wagner found Dyer inside, and she cut the margin to six, 21-15, with 2:01 on the clock.

Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"We're at the end of a very long road trip. We've been together for over a week and have faced a lot of adversity to start the season regarding the teams we've played and the weather. Overall, I'm proud of the lessons we've learned. I'm not proud that we couldn't come away with a victory, especially today. But we've learned a lot about who we are. We can come out and compete with anyone. This is the 24^th-ranked team in the nation, and at times, we had them on the ropes. Unfortunately, we couldn't sustain it. We would've been in a much better place if we could've shut down their dribble-drive game. We can't go back. Instead, we need to go home, rest, and come back for Chattanooga, looking to get our first win."

To Tennessee, We Go
Thursday (Nov. 14) marks Troy's fourth of eight straight road games to open 2024-25 when the program heads to UT-Chattanooga.

Bama Numbers
• For the third consecutive game to open her Trojan career, Baez finished in double-figures with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
• The Trojans won the third quarter over Alabama, 19-18, on 2-of-3 shooting from deep and seven made field goals.
• Baez doubled her career-high for triples in a single game as she went 4-of-4 from behind the arc.
• Troy's bench showed up against Alabama, outscoring the Crimson Tide, 32-16.
• Dyer was one steal short of matching her career-high with a team-high three.
• For the first time in 2024-25, the Trojans shot above 70 percent at the free throw line at 72.2 percent (13-of-18).
• The Trojan defense fared well against the Crimson Tide via the 3-point game, holding the 13th-ranked team in the nation to a season-low 31.3 percent (10-of-32).