Troy University Athletics
Troy University
12-10,9-3Sun Belt
Old Dominion
16-6,8-4Sun Belt
Women’s Basketball Comeback Falls Short to Old Dominion
2/7/2024 9:46:00 PM | Basketball (W)
NORFOLK, Va. – Troy women's basketball sees its second-half comeback fall short for back-to-back losses Wednesday night at the hands of Old Dominion, 63-59, in the Chartway Arena.
With seeds No. 1 – 5 capturing victories, the Trojans (12-10, 9-3 SBC) fall into a two-way tie for second, two games behind Marshall, as the Monarchs (16-6, 8-4 SBC) move to one game from joining the tie with Troy.
Ja'Mia Hollings and Tai'Sheka Porchia shined for the Trojans with 16 and 14 points, respectively, on a combined 12-of-22 – Hollings also led the team with nine rebounds and four steals. However, the difference makers were off the bench in Sharonica Hartsfield and Zay Dyer, who ended at plus-15. Dyer also dominated the post with a 10-point, 8-rebound performance.
The Monarchs worked through their starters with all but six points (59-of-63) and six rebounds (34-of-40) coming from the opening five. Jordan Mclaughlin shot 8-of-15 from the field and 5-of-6 from the stripe to lead Old Dominion with 21 points, followed by Brenda Fontana with 14.
Second Half Battle
Troy went into halftime down four, 32-28, but came out and opened the second half with back-to-back buckets in the first 2:17 by Nia Daniel and Hollings to tie it up, 32-32. However, Old Dominion stretched its lead back to five, 39-34, with 4:59 left.
Daniel continued her second-half momentum with the second jumper by No. 12, followed by a steal and score for Hollings and then Dyer to take the Trojans' first lead of the game, 40-39, with 3:32 left in the third. Hollings continued the run with a lay-in off a fastbreak steal to take the game's largest lead, 42-39, with 3:12 remaining.
ODU wouldn't go away, retaking the lead with 0:01 on the clock off a layup by Mclaughlin, 45-44, and again with a driving bucket for Kaye Clark, 47-46, and didn't give it back until the 6:04 mark, 54-53, when Leilani Guion netted a bucket and Porchia knocked 1-of-2 at the stripe.
The final lead change happened with 2:01 left when McLaughlin grabbed the offensive rebound and finished in the paint to give ODU the 58-56 advantage. McLaughlin continued to tack on points, scoring five in the final 23 seconds to polish off a 63-59 victory.
Stuck the Landing
Troy ended the drought to open the ballgame with 7:52 left in the first when Hollings broke through with a hook shot, 10-2. The game favored the Monarchs until 5:31 remained and Porchia opened a 6-0 run off a Hollings steal and fastbreak bucket, 15-6.
The run ended with 3:35 left when Hollings grabbed the Monarch miss and took it coast-to-coast, 15-10. When the first quarter ended, Troy managed to only trail by five, 20-15, after a Dyer bucket with 0:25 left.
Quarter No. 2 started like the first with an early ODU bucket, but Porchia clipped it quickly when Shaulana Wagner stripped it from ODU and dished it to No. 10 down low, 22-17. The Trojans continued to battle, hitting on a 5-0 run that was capped by a triple by Makayia Hallmon in the face of Laughlin to tie the game, 26-26 – 3:30 left.
Gabbi Cartagena drew the foul and converted both free throws to retie the game again, 28-28, at the 8:07 mark. The score entering halftime was 32-28 in favor of the Monarchs after Troy outscored ODU 26-19 in the final 17:24 of the first.
Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"We started really bad. We threw in a defensive change to start the game, which was bad on my part. It was the wrong call. We had to get our emotions right after that run. I had to call some uncharacteristic timeouts, which cost us at the end. We had such high hopes to start well and just didn't. ODU has one of the nation's best defenses, and the pressure they bring is something we haven't seen in a while. We must take the next step and get our minds right after this. Stixxs made some great plays throughout the game today and she carried the right body language throughout. She believed we could win until the very end, and we need that. Overall, we must dig our heals in and keep working towards our goal."
On the Bright Side
• Porchia hit her first career triple with 13 seconds on the clock – previously 0-of-3.
• The first-half comeback correlated to Hartsfield's time on the court as Troy was plus-11 in her 6:27 with one rebound, assist and steal.
• Dyer's 10-point performance marked her sixth double-digit performance and first since she scored 15 at Texas State (Jan. 18).
• Troy's productivity came via the bench as they outscored ODU 17-6 on bench points. They also scored more off turnover (14-12) and fastbreak (18-17).
• For the second straight game, Troy shot above 80 percent from the charity stripe – only shot above 80 percent in three games before the span (84.6 – Tennessee, 90 – Georgia, 81.8 – SFA).
MAC-SBC Challenge Game No. 2
The non-conference schedule is paused for one final game as Troy travels to face Bowling Green on Saturday at noon in the Stroh Center.
