Troy Women’s Basketball Secures First Victory of 2024-25 at UT-Chattanooga

Thursday, November 14

Chattanooga, Tenn.

5 p.m.

Troy University

1-3,0-0Sun Belt

UT-Chattanooga

2-2,0-0SoCon

Troy

Chattanooga

Troy Women’s Basketball Secures First Victory of 2024-25 at UT-Chattanooga

11/14/2024 8:51:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Zay Dyer exploded with 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting and 12 rebounds Thursday night to lead Troy to its first victory of 2024-25, 76-66, over UT-Chattanooga in McKenzie Arena.

With the victory, Troy (1-3) improves to 6-3 all-time when heading into game four with an 0-3 record as the Mocs (2-2) fall to .500 on their third straight loss against Troy.

Dyer was a woman on a mission with her third career game with 20-plus points (24). She shot 10-of-20 from the field and converted a triple. The junior boosted her performance by grabbing seven offensive rebounds to finish with 12 total for the ninth double-double in Dyer's career. Ashley Baez (12 points) ended the night on a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe to extend her double-digit scoring streak to four.

Sigrun Olafsdottir played every second of tonight's ballgame and ended with 13 points, nine rebounds, five steals and three assists. Caia Elisaldez also finished in double-figures, leading the team with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Ultimately, the Mocs couldn't compete with Troy in the paint, getting outscored 44-20 to falter.

Finish the Job
UT-Chattanooga fought back in the third quarter, controlling throughout to cut Troy's lead to as low as five on numerous occasions, including with 1:09 left on a driving lay-in from Brooke Anya. Briana Peguero gave Troy some cushion heading into the fourth on a floater with nine ticks remaining, 56-49.

Fortuna Ngnawo, who ended with a career-high 12 rebounds, set the tone in the fourth at the 0:51 mark when she grabbed the defensive board and finished on the other end, 58-49. But after a 2:19 scoreless drought on both ends, Elisaldez and Olafsdottir combined to cut the margin to four, 58-54, on a driving lay-in and triple, respectively.

Baez calmed the Mocs' run down when she hit a pair at the line, 60-54, with 5:11 remaining, and a two offensive rebound possession for the Trojans ended with Shaulana Wagner finding Dyer for a deep 2-point bucket from the corner, 62-54, to balloon the lead back to eight – 4:09 on the clock.

A driving layup by Elisaldez for the Mocs, 62-56, got matched by Dyer, Wagner and Ngnawo, who gave Troy a 6-0 run, 68-56, that lasted until the 8:20 mark for the 12-point lead. The final 1:40 saw UT-Chattanooga play the foul game, resulting in six free throws for Baez and the 24^th point for Dyer. Despite the Mocs shooting 3-of-7 in the final 100 seconds with two triples, Troy held on for a 10-point victory, 76-66.

First Quarter Explosion
The first 1:11 stayed tight as both sides delivered blows early. UT-Chattanooga dropped its first bucket of the ballgame on a step-back triple by Elisaldez, 4-3, before Dyer responded with her first triple, 7-3, at the 1:23 mark to open a 17-0 run for the Trojans.

Wagner continued the run 0:47 later when Dyer secured the rebound, and No. 13 finished inside, 9-3. A pair of free throws from Baez, 11-3, got followed by a Dyer run, where she scored six straight points in the paint to push Troy's lead to 14, 17-3, with 5:22 left in the first.

Dyer would continue her scoring ways in the opening quarter when she hit one more at the charity stripe, 21-3, following an and-one from Brianna Jackson with 3:00 left.

Anya broke the Troy run at the 7:36 mark with two free throws, 21-5, and UT-Chattanooga would finish with 10 on its third and fourth free throws from Frode Flos van der Schans and a buzzer-beater three from Olafsdottir. However, a free throw from Wagner and a lay-in by Khila Morris gave Troy a 24-10 lead through 10 minutes of play. When the buzzer sounded, Troy had held the Mocs to 13.3 percent from the field (2-of-15) and outrebounded the opposition, 15-9.

Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"We're thrilled to get our first win of the season tonight in Tennessee. Chattanooga was a good team, but I think our team was hungrier for this win. Zay had a monster game with over 20 points. She's not like everybody else. She can do things that most people can't, so we need her to recognize that and have these nights consistently. To see that 17-0 run in the first, it was exciting to see it all come together. Any question about whether we had full buy-in was answered there in the beginning. Now, we just need to extend those stretches. I think foul trouble allowed the Mocs to sneak their way back in. We need to stay focused because we have No. 7 LSU next. Let's take the traction from this came and carry it over."

Baton Rouge Bound
Game five sees the Trojans continue their road span in Baton Rouge, La., on Monday (Nov. 18) at 7 p.m. against No. 7 LSU.

First Win Stats
• The victory marks Troy's third straight victory over UT-Chattanooga and keeps Rigby undefeated against the Mocs (3-0). The win also gives Troy the overall series lead over the Mocs, 4-3.
• Dyer finished with 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting for her third career game with 20-plus points.
• After starting 0-3, the Trojans are now 6-3 in the program's history for game four to go 1-3.
• The first quarter saw Troy hold UT-Chattanooga to 13.3 percent from the field, with both makes coming from deep. The Trojans also dominated the boards, 15-9, with six offensive rebounds to hold a 24-10 lead.
• Troy was lethal at the charity stripe with 18 makes on 20 attempts for 90 percent.
• The Trojans never trailed in the game, taking the lead 0:09 in on a pull-up jumper from Wagner and holding it for 99.6 percent.
• Baez set a new career-high in free throws made with 10 to become the first Trojan since Nia Daniel to hit 10-plus at the charity stripe (ULM – Feb. 1, 2024)
• For the third game (second straight), Wagner finished with 5-plus assists. She's collected 5-plus assists 18 times in her Troy career.