Women’s Basketball Falls to Montana State

Thursday, November 7

Bozeman, Mont.

8 p.m.

Troy University

0-2,0-0Sun Belt

Montana State

2-0,0-0Big Sky

Troy

Montana St.

Women’s Basketball Falls to Montana State

11/7/2024 11:36:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Montana State forced 22 turnovers on Troy women's basketball and scored 22 off them to force an 0-2 start, 73-63, on Thursday night in Worthington Arena.

The Trojans fall to 0-2 for the second straight season despite dominating the paint, outscoring the Bobcats (2-0), 46-24.

For the second straight game, Fortuna Ngnawo notched a double-double on 15 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 7-of-12 from the field – both stats were team-highs. Brianna Jackson had a bounce-back game offensively as she hit 7-of-9 for 14 points, while Ashley Baez continued her impressive debut for the Trojans with 12 points.

Ella Johnson was lethal from behind the arc, shooting 4-of-5 from deep for 5-of-8 on the floor to score 14 points. Tied with her was Marah Dykstra (14), who also led the Bobcats with four assists. The Bobcats outshot the Trojans on 47.1 percent from the field in the second quarter to hold a 39-31 lead heading into the break and held on from there via 9-of-14 from the charity stripe in the second half.

Bobcats Maintain
Montana State outscored the Trojans 20-13 in the second quarter to open the second half with a 39-31 lead. The Bobcats held the lead for the remainder of the third, 55-47, not allowing Troy to push it below six, and ballooned it to 11 with 4:26 remaining on a free throw from Katelynn Martin.

Quarter No. 4 saw Troy battle back after Addison Harris opened with a lay-in, 57-47, 0:27 in. Baez responded after Martin missed the triple by cutting to the rim and scoring her 11^th point, 57-49. Jackson followed her when Shaulana Wagner missed a jumper. "Mo" secured her fourth offensive rebound and hit the putback shot to cut the margin to seven, 58-51, with 7:53 remaining.

Johnson stalled the Trojans with a triple, 61-51, but Ngnawo kept Troy rolling with another second-chance opportunity. A Troy miss led to a deadball team rebound, and Khila Morris found Ngnawo quickly for the bucket, 61-53 – 6:34 on the clock. A Briana Peguero steal on the next possession allowed Ngnawo to score her third straight bucket at the line, 61-54, at the 4:54 mark.

Taylee Chirrick led Montana State to push the margin up to 12, 68-56, with 3:40 remaining on four free throws – Johnson also converted a triple at the 4:35 mark. Emani Jenkins hit a pair of free throws for her first career D-I points, and Adriana Jones caught the assist from Zay Dyer to finish the fastbreak, 68-60, for one final push. But Martin drilled the 71-60 triple to follow and place the dagger with 2:23 left. Jackson got one last bucket to cut the deficit to 10, 73-63, with 0:51 on the clock, but the Bobcats finished the victory in the final seconds.

First Quarter Fight Back
Montana State looked to take complete control early in the ballgame, 16-8, when the team shot 5-of-6 for an 11-2 run, starting on a triple from Esmeralda Morales at the 4:17 mark and ending on a free throw from Martin (6:53 mark).

Wagner began Troy's comeback to end the first quarter when she drove inside and converted the lay-in, 16-10. A foul on Montana State allowed Troy to set up Baez from deep, and she drilled it, 16-13, with 1:50 left.

The run continued when the Bobcats missed the triple, and the post players connected as Ngnawo saw Dyer down low. She made the layup to cut the margin to one, 16-15.

Dylan Philip stopped the Troy run on a made three, 19-15, with a minute remaining. After 0:25 seconds, Dyer ramped it back up when she grabbed the defensive board and finished the job at the charity stripe, 19-16. The charity stripe proved well for Troy as Baez had the ball with 0:03 left and drew the foul, converting both to end the quarter, 19-18.

Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"We had a tough game here on the road. They were too smart to make many mistakes and capitalized on it all night. With this team that is so new, we are making too many mistakes to beat a team like that. We have Alabama next, and we will get better for that game. The priority is getting back to Troy rebounding. We only had five offensive rebounds at halftime, and that's unacceptable. As coaches, we need to learn our players better to use them in certain situations. We have lost two games, which we are not proud of. However, we are learning and plan to return strong."

Back to Bama
Troy heads back home to Alabama but remains on its eight-game road trip when it takes on SEC foe Alabama at the Coleman Coliseum on Sunday (Nov. 10).

Bozeman Numbers
• For the second straight game in her first career start, Ngnawo recorded a double-double on 15 points and 11 rebounds.
• Jackson recorded her first game in double-figures for the Trojans with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting – her 26^th career game with 10-plus.
• The Trojans start the season 0-2 for the second straight season. Last season, the Trojans opened 0-6 but turned it around to win 22 of the program's next 28 to finish 22-12.
• The battle in the paint saw Troy dominate, outscoring the Bobcats 46-24.
• Jenkins scored her first points as a Trojan with a pair of free throws to have all nine newcomers score in the first two games.
• Wagner was one rebound shy of her fourth double-digit rebound game, finishing with nine.