Troy University Athletics
Troy University
20-11,15-3Sun Belt
FIU
21-12,11-5CUSA
Women’s Basketball Claims First Ever Postseason Win Over FIU
3/25/2024 9:56:00 PM | Basketball (W)
TROY, Ala. – History is made on Monday night in Trojan Arena as the Troy women's basketball team claims its first-ever postseason victory in a dominant 92-62 win over FIU to advance to the Super 16 of the WNIT.
The Trojans claimed their eighth 20-plus win season in head coach Chanda Rigby's tenure as they improve to 20-11, 15-3 SBC and send the Panthers (21-12, 11-5 C-USA) packing behind a career-high 30 points from Ja'Mia Hollings.
Hollings shot 13-of-19 from the field and hit a pair of triples to set a new career-high for the second time in 2023-24. Tai'Sheka Porchia (10), Makayia Hallmon (12) and Nia Daniel (15) followed her with double-digit performances as the Trojans shot 52.7 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from deep and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
Courtney Prenger led the Panthers after scoring the team's opening 13 points to finish with 22 on 9-of-16 shooting. Off the bench, Mya Kone notched a double-double on 13 points and 15 rebounds – six offensive – through 22 minutes of play. A 52.9 percent shooting first quarter for FIU couldn't be matched as the Troy defense limited them to 26.3 in the second and 18.2 in the third to seal the win.
Exploding Out of the Locker Room
The Trojans came out of the locker room on a mission when Porchia took the deep two, 45-34, which would open a 12-0 run through the opening three minutes. The run consisted of buckets from Daniel (2), Hollings (4), Shaulana Wagner (2) and Porchia (4) as No. 10 finished what she started with a jumper to push the lead to 21, 55-34, with 7:03 remaining in the third.
A pair of free throws and a bucket for Angena Belloso paused the Troy onslaught. Still, Sharonica Hartsfield forced the steal, which resulted in a second-chance bucket by Hollings to open another 6-0 run, where Leilani Augmon scored four straight at the 7:02 mark, 63-38.
Troy continued to put the pedal down with a second-chance lay-in for Porchia, a lay-in by Hollings off a Porchia assist and a triple for Gabbi Cartagena to end the third quarter up 29, 70-41.
Quarter No. 4 saw the Trojans shoot 50 percent (10-of-20) and push to their biggest lead of 33 with 1:32 left when Zay Dyer corralled the Trojan miss, and Augmon found Cartagena for her ninth point of the game from deep, 92-59. FIU managed one more bucket and a free throw, but the Trojans walked away with the 30-point victory, 92-62.
Deep Threats
Both teams fired off in the first quarter to keep it a three-point game through the first 10 minutes, 25-22, as Hallmon got the final say with a fast break jumper with 0:15 left.
The Panthers quickly grabbed the lead to open the second quarter on back-to-back buckets from Belloso and Kone, 27-25, at the 1:11 mark. But Troy caught fire from deep as Hollings got the assist from Porchia and drilled the deep shot to reclaim the lead, 28-27, followed by a Daniel triple, 31-27 – 7:42 left in the second.
Kone managed to cut the Troy lead back to two, 33-31, on a second-chance layup, but Hallmon answered from deep with 2:49 remaining to spark a 10-1 run to end the first half.
At the 8:25 mark, Hallmon intercepted the pass from Belloso and found Hartsfield. Hartsfield took the extra look, and Cartagena answered for Troy's fourth triple of the quarter, 39-31. A bucket from Prenger was met with back-to-back lay-ins from Hollings for Troy to take its first double-digit advantage, 43-33, with 0:37 left in the second.
Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"First of all, I want to thank everyone who showed up to Trojan Arena tonight. They elevated us to where it was impossible not to give it our all to win. I'm appreciative of our opportunity to compete in the WNIT because these players did not want to end it how we did at the tournament. Our players are putting in the extra work to get the job done. 'Stixxs' led the way, but our whole team followed the gameplan and did amazing tonight. We kept the pedal down and made adjustments heading into the second half, and I'm proud of them for that."
Super 16
The Trojans await Friday at 6:30 p.m. for their 'Super 16' matchup against NC A&T at the Corbett Sports Center.
Second Round Numbers
• The win over FIU marks the first-ever postseason victory through eight appearances in program history.
• Troy ran the floor, dominating the fast break game, scoring 19 points as opposed to FIU's one – also won the points in the paint (46-34), second chance (20-7) and off turnovers (22-8).
• Hollings' 30-point, 10-rebound performance set a new career-high for points as she claimed her 13th double-double of the season – 22nd in her three-year career.
• Troy improves its record to 4-0, where the team shoots above 50 percent – shot 39-of-74 for 52.7 percent.
• With a 10-rebound performance, Hollings (277) now sits one rebound from tying Donette McNair (2009-10) and Alexus Dye (2019-20) for the fifth-most (278) in a single season in D-I history.
