Troy Shoots Lights Out in Redemption Win Over Memphis, Wagner Earns First-Ever Troy Women’s Basketball D-I Triple-Double

Saturday, December 14

Troy, Ala.

2 p.m.

Troy University

5-5,0-0Sun Belt

Memphis

2-7,0-0AAC

Memphis

Troy

Troy Shoots Lights Out in Redemption Win Over Memphis, Wagner Earns First-Ever Troy Women’s Basketball D-I Triple-Double

12/14/2024 6:00:00 PM | Basketball (W)

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – Shaulana Wagner became the first Troy women's basketball player to secure a triple-double in D-I history with 12 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds as Troy routes Memphis, 85-67, Saturday afternoon in Trojan Arena.

With 1:05 left in the ballgame, Wagner grabbed the defensive rebound off a Tiger (2-7) miss to polish off her fourth rebound in three minutes and secure the triple-double. Her performance pushed the Trojans (5-5) to .500 as they got redemption from 2023-24 with their first-ever win over Memphis.

Outside of Wagner's historic game, Zay Dyer, Brianna Jackson and Ashley Baez tied for the most points at 16. Dyer also led the team in rebounding, finishing with 11 for her fourth straight double-double. Leilani Guion became the fifth Trojan to finish with 10-plus points (10), going a perfect 2-of-2 from behind the arc. Troy shot a season-high 49.3 percent from the field and 38.5 from deep as a team. They also had the second-highest percentage from the free throw line for 2024-25, shooting 10-of-12 at the line (83.3 percent).

Three Tigers accounted for 50 of the 67 points scored via Tanyuel Welch (21), Alasia Smith (19) and Elauna Eaton (10). The trio combined for 19-of-33 shooting, while Smith also led the program in rebounding (8). Memphis shot efficiently at 44.1 percent but gave up 17 offensive rebounds to Troy for the loss.

Handle the Adversity
Quarter No. 3 saw Troy and Memphis go back-and-forth, but the Trojans never wavered to hold a 13-point advantage, 65-52, as they headed into the final 10 minutes. The Tigers fired out to open the final quarter when Alasia Smith and Tamya Smith combined for a 5-0 run, 65-58, off three turnovers in the first 0:41.

Baez stopped the run with a trip to the free throw line, 67-58, at the 2:28 mark, before Alasia Smith hit from deep to cut the margin to six, 67-61 – 7:12 remaining. No. 2 struck again when she took it inside herself and finished the lay-in, 69-61, to open a 10-0 run.

The 10-0 run continued with a lay-in by Jackson and Dyer and free throws from Guion before No. 5 put the finishing touches on the run with a fastbreak layup off Wagner's 11^th assist, taking a 16-point lead, 77-61. A free throw from Welch paused the run, but Guion hit one from inside for the 17-point advantage, 79-62, with 2:53 remaining.

Memphis managed to drop the margin to 15 on one more occasion when Boler converted from inside the paint, 81-66, at the 8:04 mark. After sitting with nine rebounds for nearly two minutes, Wagner seized the Welch miss to finish her triple-double performance with 1:05 left on the clock. Dyer and Emma Imevbore returned to the scoring column before time expired for the 18-point victory, 85-67.

Lights Out
The opening six minutes of action saw six lead changes and two ties as Memphis made it a one-point game, 14-13, off a layup for Alasia Smith with 4:12 to go. Baez responded quickly at the 5:57 mark from deep as Wagner found her open, and she connected, 17-13.

Bailey Gilmore got the second-chance bucket to cut it to two, 17-15, before a small scoreless drought on both sides. But with 1:37 remaining in the first, Baez connected again from deep for the final points of the opening 10 minutes.

Guion continued Troy's run of triples 0:37 into the second quarter at the top of the arc as Baez dished the assist, 23-15. Memphis managed to cut the deficit to three before Guion hit her second triple of the quarter from the pass by Wagner. That triple sparked a 7-0 run from Jackson and Imevbore as Troy extended the lead to double-figures, 32-22, with 5:57 on the clock.

Troy kept shooting as they went 11-of-20 in the second with three triples, which ballooned the advantage to 17 on two occasions. First, Baez swiped the ball and took it coast-to-coast, 41-24, at the 8:24 mark. Then, Jackson connected at the free throw line with 0:44 remaining, 46-29. Memphis scored the final bucket of the half, 46-31, with 0:32 left as Welch hit a jumper as the Trojans went into the break with a 15-point lead.

Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"We had such a great day in Trojan Arena. Playing that well in front of our home crowd was so good. We definitely played the best we have all season long, as we had players come out and perform on all accounts. Baez was relentless on the defensive side, and she just wouldn't let Memphis catch a break when it tried to run the offense. Then, you have the first-ever triple-double in program history. That's just big. I'm really proud of her. When we were recruiting her, I knew she was going to be very special. With how she plays, it takes a little bit of time to get a rhythm, and she's found it. And it's amazing to see."

Triple-Double Queen (Shaulana Wagner)
"I don't even know what to say. I'm just speechless. I'm beyond excited, and so many emotions are going on inside right now. It's just amazing, and I couldn't have done it without my teammates. They kept telling me to keep going, so I locked in. From there, I just went in and rebounded like I do."

Tournament Time
The Trojans head back on the road to Cherokee, N.C., for a 2-day tournament against Toledo, Arkansas and Liberty.

Memphis Numbers
• Wagner became the first D-I player in Troy women's basketball history to record a triple-double on 12 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
• Troy dominated the stat line in the first half shooting, going 20-of-36 from the field (55.6 percent), 5-of-10 from deep (50 percent) and 1-of-1 at the charity stripe (100 percent).
• Dyer secured her fourth straight double-double, ending with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
• In the ninth game of 2024-25, Baez scored double-digit points, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
• The battle in the paint secured the win for Troy as it dominated the points in the paint, 54-26.
• For the third time in 2024-25, 5-plus Trojans ended the night in double-figures. In those three games, Troy is 2-1.
• Baez had career-highs in points (16), field goals made (6) and assists (4) as she's finished with 10-plus points in 9-of-10 games.
• In her historic triple-double night, Wagner also dished out a career-high 11 assists. She became the first player since Sharonica Hartsfield (Nov. 11, 2023) against Ball State to have double-digit assists.