Troy University Athletics
Troy University
17-10,13-3Sun Belt
South Alabama
8-21,1-15Sun Belt
Tale of Two Halves Spoils South Alabama Senior Day, Clinches Double-Bye
2/24/2024 6:09:00 PM | Basketball (W)
MOBILE, Ala. – A tale of two halves saw Troy outscore South Alabama 46-29 on 45.5 percent shooting in the second to extend its win streak to five and guarantee a top-3 seed in the SBC Tournament at the Mitchell Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Trojans (17-10, 13-3 SBC) clinch a two-round bye as they surpass their conference win total from 2022-23 and tie their overall win mark. The Jaguars (8-21, 1-15 SBC) now sit one loss or a Texas State win from claiming the last seed in the SBC.
Nia Daniel erupted in the second half, scoring 17 on 6-of-11 from the field to finish the game with 21 points, seven rebounds, one assist, two blocks and two steals. Makayia Hallmon also turned it up in the final 20 minutes with 14 of her 18 points on 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. Tai'Sheka Porchia managed her ninth double-double on 18 points and 12 rebounds – eight offensive – with Ja'Mia Hollings coming one board short of her 10th with a 17-point, 9-rebound performance.
Rachel Leggett (18), Jordan Rosier (17) and Michiyah Simmons (21) combined for 56 of South's 79 points but shot 16-of-45 from the field. South Alabama even forced 20 turnovers but managed nine points off them instead of Troy's 15. South Alabama finished the first half shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from deep before finishing at 35.8 and 34.5, respectively, after a 3-of-17 third quarter.
Fourth Quarter … Our Quarter
Nadia Howard tied the game early in the fourth, 67-67, on a layup for USA. Daniel responded with more heroics, scoring four points on the fastbreak. Her first bucket came off a steal for Hallmon, who pushed the pace and found Daniel for the jumper, 69-67, at the 1:45 mark.
Hallmon continued the run when she pulled up with a deep 2-point bucket, 73-67. Then, Porchia stole the ball from Leggett and found No. 3. Hallmon drove inside, drawing the foul and capping an 8-0 run, 75-67 – at the 3:40 mark.
South managed to narrow the margin to five off a triple by Rosier, 77-72, with 5:26 remaining. However, Troy gained trips to the charity stripe via Porchia and Daniel, combined with a lay-in by Hollings to push the lead to double-figures, 82-72, by the 6:01 mark – finished 24-of-28 from the line.
The Trojans ended by matching everything the Jaguars threw, keeping the lead above six for the remainder of the game. Simmons scored all seven of USA's points in the final 3:42 while Hollings, Porchia and Hallmon got involved to avenge last season's loss in the Mitchell Center, 88-79.
Daniel Take Over
Troy came out with fire to start the second half when Daniel and Porchia drew two early shooting fouls and went 4-for-4 at the line, 50-46, by the 1:41 mark.
Daniel kept cooking when she swiped the ball from Howard and drove up the court for the layup, 50-48. She followed it by grabbing the defensive rebound and catching the pass from Hallmon for the triple and a Troy lead, 51-50 – 7:26 remaining.
Leggett matched Daniel's triple 0:16 later, 53-50, but a possession later, Daniel did it all, blocking a USA triple, grabbing the board and dishing it to Hallmon on the fastbreak, 53-53. No. 12 returned to the points column on a jumper to take the 55-53 lead with 5:53 left.
USA's Leggett matched with a turnaround jumper before Daniel grabbed the offensive rebound and finished the second-chance lay-in, 57-55, to cap off nine points, one assist, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal in the opening 4:46.
Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"Very thankful to come into South Alabama's house and get the win. It was a tale of two halves. In the first half, we didn't have the energy, and South took advantage of it. They had great energy and we were down going into the half. When the coaches were talking before going into the locker room, it seemed like the players talked things over and knew what needed to be done. They brought all the energy on all levels. We shrunk the court and went man-to-man, and we pulled it out. We still have big strides to make before we get to our goal. We need to bring energy from the tip, and that's going to be our battle cry."
Road Warriors
• Troy outrebounded South Alabama 30-10 in the second half to win the battle 52-29.
• Daniel scored 17 of her 21 points in the second half, including 11 in the opening five minutes of the third quarter – shot 6-of-11 from the field, grabbed seven rebounds and had two blocks and two steals.
• The Trojans ended their road span winners in eight of their last 10 to finish at 8-6 after starting 0-4.
• The third quarter saw Troy limit the Jaguars to 3-of-17 from the field (17.6 percent) and 1-of-8 from deep (12.5 percent) and outrebound them 17-5 to outscore them 25-13.
• The lineup of Hollings, Daniel, Porchia, Hallmon and Leilani Guion to start the third quarter, outscoring USA 15-5 in the before making a sub for the largest point differential of the game.
• Daniel made her 50th career start for Troy, starting in 26 this season and 24 in 2022-23.
Home Series
The final pair of home games for Troy starts on Wednesday at 6 p.m. when it invites Appalachian State to town.
