Women’s Basketball Overcomes 20-Point Deficit to Defeat Alaska-Anchorage in Overtime

Friday, November 22

Anchorage, Alaska

10:30 p.m.

Troy University

2-4,0-0Sun Belt

Alaska-Anchorage

6-1,0-0Great Northwest

OT 1

Troy

Alas. Anchorage

Women’s Basketball Overcomes 20-Point Deficit to Defeat Alaska-Anchorage in Overtime

11/23/2024 3:15:00 AM | Basketball (W)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A forgettable first half got flipped on its head when the Troy women's basketball overcame a 20-point deficit to defeat Alaska-Anchorage, 80-73, in overtime Friday night in the Alaska Airlines Center. The victory sends them to the Great Alaska Shootout championship game on Saturday at 11:30 p.m. against North Dakota State.

Troy (2-4) grabs its second victory of the season, taking its first lead with 4:12 remaining in overtime on a Fortuna Ngnawo jumper, 70-67, and holding it from there to drop Alaska-Anchorage (6-1).

Shaulana Wagner and Ngnawo led the largest comeback for Troy since Jackson State (24) on Dec. 20, 2021, as they combined for 38 points on 12-of-16 at the free throw line and 13-of-28 in the field. Twenty-six of the pairs' 38 points came in the final 25 minutes on 11-of-21 shooting. No. 12 also collected her third double-double as she led the team with 13 rebounds.

Jazzpher Evans and Tori Hollingshead came off the bench and led the Seawolves in scoring. Evans finished the day with a team-high 14 points, two assists and a steal, while Hollingshead had a team-high four steals, 13 points and six rebounds. Alaska-Anchorage shot 2-of-12 in overtime after a 36.1 shooting percentage in the second half to give away the ballgame.

All She Wrote
Troy found itself down nine entering the final quarter and kept the pressure up as Ashley Baez found Zay Dyer, who ended with 14 points and eight rebounds, for the fastbreak lay-in at the 0:27 mark to cut the margin to seven, 58-51. However, the Seawolves looked to regain complete control when they ballooned the margin back to double-figures, 66-55, with 4:11 remaining, until Leilani Guion (nine points) hit the critical triple off an assist from Briana Peguero 0:09 later to start the final push.

A miss by Alaska-Anchorage allowed the post players to show off their second-chance effort as Dyer grabbed her miss and converted, 66-60, to continue the 9-0 run. Peguero put the punctuation mark on the run when she got the pass from Wagner in the corner and, through the contact, drilled the triple with contact for the four-point play, 66-64 – 2:33 on the clock.

Evans went 1-of-2 at the line with 2:13 remaining, 67-64, to open the door for Troy. After 1:50 of scoreless play, Wagner took the inbound and went coast-to-coast, carving her way through the defense for the and-one lay-in, 67-66. At the line, Wagner clutched up and converted to tie the game, 67-67. The Troy defense stayed firm in the final seconds to force overtime, forcing a missed triple by Evans.

Ngnawo continued her strong night into extra time as she gave Troy its first lead of the game 0:48 into overtime when she got the assist from Wagner and battled through contact for the three-point play, 70-67. Peguero continued the momentum when she intercepted the Seawolf pass and took it to the other end, 72-67.

At the 3:14 mark of overtime, Hollingshead cut the margin to three, 72-69, with a tip-in layup, but a free throw from Wagner and another Peguero steal led to Dyer scoring the lay-in to hold a six-point advantage, 75-69, with 1:19 remaining. Dyer matched a pair of free throws from UAA, 77-71, and No. 1 and No. 13 finished the job at the free throw line to complete the 20-point comeback and advance Troy to the title game, 80-73.

Took a Chunk
Troy's first half was summarized by 25.9 percent shooting and 15 turnovers. Immediately, in the first 0:21, Troy changed the narrative when Dyer grabbed the Troy miss and converted, 39-21.

Elaina Mack scored the Seawolves' first bucket of the half, but Ngnawo kept the gas pedal down when she fought through the contact and converted the and-one, 41-24, at the 1:06 mark. No. 12 made one more free throw with 8:14 remaining, 41-25.

The Seawolves got another make from Hollingshead, 43-25, before the Trojans rattled off a 9-2 run, starting with an and-one from Wagner, 43-28, and ending with a Ngawo steal and bucket with 5:57 remaining. Both sides would trade baskets before the halfway mark of the third quarter, 47-37, as the Trojans scored 18 in the first five minutes after scoring 19 in the first 20 minutes.

In the final five minutes, both sides delivered blows as Wagner took over with the help of early foul trouble for the Seawolves. Wagner scored nine of Troy's 11 points in the final minutes (Baez converted two free throws) as Troy narrowed the gap to nine as it headed into the fourth quarter.

Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"What a game Alaska-Anchorage had in that ballgame. They caught us completely off guard in that first half. We had to get in that locker room and build up some confidence because they had us rattled on the defensive end. Our motto was, 'They did something to us in that first half, let's go do something to them.' The team did just that, and I'm very proud of them for that. We handled their pressure better and got them out of rhythm with our press. It seemed to cause a lot of trouble. This opportunity is truly amazing, and we're here to win a tournament. We got close to getting knocked out of it early tonight, so we must remember what we came here for. We want to win this prestigious tournament."

Championship Bound
The Trojans and Bisons will meet tomorrow at 11:30 p.m. to decide the champion of the 41^st Great Alaska Shootout in the Alaska Airlines Center.

Semifinal Numbers
• The Trojans scored 17 points in the first five minutes of the second half after failing to score 20 in the first 20 minutes.
• Troy returned to defeat Alaska-Anchorage, who was 116-14 before tonight in the last 130 games played at the Alaska Airlines Center.
• A 20-point comeback marked the first time the Trojans overcame a 20-plus point deficit since Jackson State on Dec. 20, 2021. That day, the Trojans trailed by 24 and won 99-82.
• Wagner's performance tonight secured career-highs in scoring (20), field goals made (6) and free throws made (8). She scored 18 of her 20 points in the final 25 minutes.
• Troy shot 17-of-21 at the charity stripe in the second half and overtime to secure the comeback.
• Ngnawo's 18-point, 13-rebound double-double marked career-highs in both categories. She also tied her career-high for field goals made (7), assists (1) and blocks (1).
• The Trojans dominated the second half in all categories as they won the points off turnovers (8-7), paint (30-14), second-chance (12-8) and fastbreaks (12-2).
• Guion was perfect from behind the arc, going 3-of-3 from deep for nine points.