Troy Falls Short in 2024-25 Season Opener

Monday, November 4

Buffalo, N.Y.

5 p.m.

Troy University

0-1,0-0Sun Belt

Buffalo

1-0,0-0MAC

Troy

Buffalo

11/4/2024 9:20:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Despite excellent play from multiple newcomers, the Troy women's basketball team was plagued with foul trouble to come up short in its season opener to Buffalo, 80-78, in Alumni Arena on Monday night.

The loss drops head coach Chanda Rigby's record in season openers to 7-6 as the Trojans (0-1) committed 33 fouls to the Bulls' (1-0) 24, resulting in 27 makes at the charity stripe for the opposition.

Fortuna Ngnawo came off the bench to lead Troy with her first double-double, going a perfect 4-of-4 in the field for 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds (six offensive) in 16 minutes. Briana Peguero (team-high 15 points), Ashley Baez and Brianna Jackson also impressed in their debuts, with Peguero setting a career-high in triples (5-of-7), Baez scoring 14 points and Jackson rejecting a career-high six blocks.

Chellia Watson erupted on the offensive end to lead the Bulls with 28 points. She converted four triples, nine field goals and six free throws. Buffalo shot 27-of-38 from the line for 71.1 percent, while Troy went 10-of-21 to decide the ballgame.

Down to the Buzzer
Buffalo came out of halftime on a mission, outscoring the Trojans 19-12 in the opening 6:30 of the third quarter. Shaulana Wagner managed to keep Troy within two possessions with 0:26 left in the third with an and-one layup, 69-65.

The fourth quarter saw back-and-forth play, but the Bulls held a multiple-possession lead through the majority, holding a 7-point lead, 79-72, with 3:16 left on a triple from Watson off a Lani Cornfield assist.

An Ariana Seawell turnover for the Bulls with 2:25 remaining allowed Troy to run the fastbreak, culminating with Wagner finding Ngnawo down low. The Cameroon native sidestepped the defender for her 11^th point of the game, 79-74. A Watson free throw got matched by Khila Morris, who took the pass from Jackson and converted the layup, 80-76.

With under a minute remaining, the Bulls turned the ball over off Jackson's sixth block, allowing Wagner to force the foul and hit both at the charity stripe to make it a 2-point game, 80-78, with 0:43 on the clock. Troy's defense came up huge on the next possession to give Jones the ball with 0:18 left. However, Morris got caught with a double-dribble call, bringing out the foul game. Two misses at the stripe for Buffalo gave Troy one last chance. The Trojans had two opportunities to tie the game, but a missed triple from Jackson and a last-chance toss-up from Baez couldn't fall as the buzzer sounded.

Baez At the Buzzer
A pair of free throws, 39-32, from Cornfield with 3:14 remaining in the first half pushed Buffalo's lead to seven. Baez took over in the final three minutes, starting with a pass from Wagner for the triple, 39-35.

Cornfield secured another free throw before Baez facilitated one to Jamirica Roberson, inside, for the jumper, 40-37. More free throws pushed the Bulls advantage back to four, 41-37, but Baez responded 0:13 later with a and-one layup, 42-40, with 1:51 remaining.

Kirsten Lewis-Williams (2) and Alexis Davis (1) converted a trio of free throws that brought the margin to five at the 8:36 mark. Newcomer Briana Peguero converted her third triple of the game to fire back, 45-43.

The 17^th free throw on Buffalo's 21^st attempt put the score at 46-43 with 0:31 left, and Baez took over from there with five points in the final seconds. Her first bucket came with 0:17 on the clock as she drove inside and converted the and-one, 46-46. A turnover from Lewis-Williams gave Baez 0:08 to work with. After rolling the ball to halfcourt, No. 2 launched the attack inside and finished with a reverse layup to take the 48-46 lead at the buzzer.

Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"We had a hard fight in the MAC-SBC Challenge to Buffalo. This is the first official game playing together with nine new players. Overall, I was really pleased with a lot of what we were doing. Many new players, including Fortuna, Briana, Ashley and Fortuna, shined. Fortuna played for only 16 minutes and ended with an incredible double-double. One thing that I hope continues is how well we shot the ball from deep. We hit 10 3-pointers, which isn't something that is a characteristic of Troy teams in recent past. We are going back to the hotel and preparing for a quick turnaround. We leave early in the morning for Montana State, so we need to fix some things to come out with a win."

Up the Mountains
The Trojans continue their eight-game road trip with a trip to Montana State for the first of five guaranteed first-time meetings.

Season Opening Numbers
• Of the nine newcomers, eight scored their first bucket as a Trojan, and four scored their first in Division-I basketball.
• For the second straight season, the Trojans opened their season with a triple as Peguero drilled one of her five 0:10 into the ballgame.
• The foul game played a pivotal role, with the Trojans committing 33 fouls to Buffalo's 24. The fouls resulted in Dyer and Ngnawo fouling out.
• Peguero stretched the floor throughout the ballgame as she set a new career-high in her Troy debut with five threes (5-of-7 from deep).
• Rigby's record in season opener falls to 7-6, and Troy falls to 1-2 in the MAC-SBC challenge.
• The 10 3-pointers marked the 49^th time Troy made 10-plus 3-pointers under Rigby. Troy's record sits at 43-6 when converting double-digit triples.
• Ngnawo ended the night with her first career double-double in Division-I basketball with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
• Jackson rejected six shots to set a new career-high. Her previous was five against Florida State on Jan. 26, 2020.