Troy University Athletics
Troy University
12-9,9-2Sun Belt
Southern Miss
12-9,5-6Sun Belt
Women’s Basketball Win Streak Snapped by Southern Miss
2/3/2024 5:49:00 PM | Basketball (W)
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Despite a hot start from the field, the Troy women's basketball program sees its nine-game win streak snapped to Southern Miss on Saturday night in the Reed Green Coliseum.
A loss by Marshall to James Madison keeps Troy one game from tying for the top spot in the conference at 12-9, 9-2 SBC, while the Golden Eagles rise to eighth in the league at 12-9, 5-6 SBC on a three-game win streak.
Four Trojans finished in double-figures, with Makayia Hallmon leading with 14 points. Ja'Mia Hollings was one rebound shy from her eighth double-double on 13 points and nine rebounds. Tai'Sheka Porchia and Nia Daniel also managed double-digits with 10 apiece.
Melyia Grayson stole the show with 21 points on 9-of-14 from the field, three offensive rebounds and three steals. Meanwhile, 10 points from Dominique Davis in the fourth quarter allowed her to finish with 19 and Jacorriah Bracey seized a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Fourth Quarter Slump
USM managed to battle back to within six, 54-48 when the fourth quarter began. They kept the momentum rolling when Grayson got the assist from Lani Cornfield for the lay-in, 54-50. Grayson furthered the pressure with a second-chance layup, 54-52, with 8:41 left.
The Trojans pushed the lead back up to six after Hollings got the pass from Sharonica Hartsfield and made the second-chance jumper, 56-52. Then, Daniel drew the foul on the fastbreak with 7:53 left to push the advantage to six, 58-52.
Over the next 4:13, the game belonged to Southern Miss as it captured a 10-0 run that opened with a second-chance layup from Bracey and ended with 3:40 remaining on a driving lay-in from Davis, 62-58.
Daniel stopped the run when Wagner grabbed the offensive rebound and found her in the paint, 62-60, with 3:27 left. But, once they took the lead, the Golden Eagles controlled the game as they limited the Trojans to one made triple by Hallmon in the final 3:27. Meanwhile, they converted 6-of-6 from the charity stripe with two made field goals to extend the USM win streak to three.
Starting Hot
Troy got off to a hot start as Porchia netted the first bucket of the game, 2-0, 0:50 in, taking the assist from Hallmon. After a scoreless drought from both sides, USM responded with a fastbreak bucket by Brikayla Gray, 2-2, at the 2:08 mark.
Gray's bucket sparked Troy as Wagner drove inside for the lay-in to begin a brief 6-0 run that ended on a jumper from Hollings, 8-2, with 5:56 left in the first.
The Golden Eagles were able to claw back to make it a 12-10 game with 2:50 remaining on a layup from Gray. But Hollings answered 0:10 later with a triple, followed by a jumper off the assist from Wagner, 17-10 – 1:10 left.
With 0:33 left, Leilani Augmon gave Troy its first double-digit lead, 20-10, as she converted from deep. Then, with 0:05 left, Hollings scored her 11th point of the quarter to finish with a 12-point advantage, 22-10.
Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"They took our inside game away, and we weren't hitting outside shots. We learned a lot. I'm probably going to need to spread us out and drive more. But we stuck with the things that have been working all year, and they did a good job of taking those away from us. Also Joye Lee-McNelis is one of the best at making adjustments. And when we don't rebound, we don't win, so it can't be a variable. They were going to the boards and had great rebounders. They beat us at our own game. I really need to go to the film and look at what happened there. But our goal hasn't changed and we still aim to bring a championship to Troy."
Notable Numbers
• Despite losing, Troy still won the second chance and bench point battle, outscoring USM 15-10 and 14-4, respectively.
• Wagner rose to claim a career-high 11 rebounds – marked her second 10-plus rebound game in 2023-24.
• The Trojans looked unstoppable in the first quarter, shooting 10-of-17 (58.8) from the field and 2-of-5 (40.0) from deep.
• Troy excelled from the charity stripe, shooting 6-of-7 for 85.7 percent.
• With Hallmon, Porchia, Hollings and Daniel ending in double-digits, Troy's had 12 games with four players ending in double-figures.
The Road Trip Continues
Troy's road trip continues next Wednesday with a trip to Chartway Arena to face Old Dominion in an SBC Tournament rematch.
