Troy University Athletics
Wednesday, February 18
Troy, Ala.
6 p.m.
Troy University
22-5,13-2Sun Belt
84
vs
73
South Alabama
9-17,2-13Sun Belt
1
2
3
4
F
South Alabama
10
21
18
24
73
Troy
25
26
18
15
84
Women’s Basketball Halts South Alabama Rally for Seventh Straight Sun Belt Victory
2/18/2026 9:22:00 PM | Basketball (W)
TROY, Ala. – The Troy women's basketball team dominated the first half and coasted to an 84-73 victory over South Alabama, halting a fourth-quarter rally on Wednesday night in Trojan Arena.
The Trojans (22-5, 13-2 SBC) take a half-game advantage for first in the Sun Belt standings and secure a top 5 seed with their seventh straight league victory. Meanwhile, the Jaguars (9-17, 2-13 SBC) are guaranteed a bottom-five seed in the tournament after losing their 10th straight game.
Emani Jenkins had 17 points in the first half with five threes to end with 18 points and a team-high three steals. The duo of Fortuna Ngnawo and Zay Dyer had double-doubles to remain No. 1 and No. 2 in the conference. Ngnawo ended with a team-high 18 rebounds and 16 points, while Dyer had 16 points and 10 rebounds. The pair combined for five blocks. Ashley Baez stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points and a team-high eight assists for her seventh game with five or more assists in a game. Overall, the Trojans made 11 3-pointers on 27 attempts for 40.7 percent, while holding the Jaguars to 5-of-27 for 18.5 percent from deep.
South Alabama distributed the scoring with five players in double-figures via Tamara Ortiz (12), Diawna Carter-Hartley (12), Amyah Sutton (12), Daniela Gonzalez (10) and Alicia Spann (10). Gonzalez and Carter-Hartley also had double-doubles on 10 and 11 rebounds, respectively. The Jaguars couldn't overcome a first half where they shot 26.3 percent from the field and 11.8 percent from deep in the loss.
Over From the Start
Troy fired out strong, starting with Jenkins, who made a jumper inside the paint and followed it with a three for the 5-1 lead at the 2:31 mark of the opening quarter. A layup for South Alabama was followed by buckets from Baez and Rachel Leggett for a 9-3 advantage at the 5:58 mark.
South Alabama kept it close, bringing the margin to four, 12-8, with 2:12 left in the quarter, with three free throws. The Trojans responded with an 11-0 run to end the quarter that had three 3-pointers from Jenkins, including a buzzer-beater to end the first with a 25-10 advantage. Leggett scored the other four points on the run with two free throws and a pull-up jumper.
In the first quarter, Troy shot 47.4 percent from the field, 55.6 percent from deep on five made 3-pointers and 2-of-2 at the line, with seven assists. Meanwhile, the Jaguars went 2-of-17 (11.8 percent) from the field and 0-of-7 from deep. Jenkins ended the first with 14 points on four threes.
Leilani Guion kept Troy's run going in the first 19 seconds of the second quarter with her first 3-pointer, 28-10. Six minutes later, the Jaguars cut the margin to 11, 37-26, off an and-one by Sutton. But Troy looked again to Jenkins for her fifth 3-pointer of the half to open a 7-0 run – Ngnawo continued the run with a pair of free throws and a jumper.
The Trojans ended the first half with a 5-0 burst in the final 32 seconds with a driving layup by Ngnawo and a buzzer-beater 3-pointer from Saniya Jackson. Troy found itself up 20, 51-31, at the half, shooting 46.2 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from deep and 87.5 percent from the line. Ngnawo secured her 15th double-double in the first half on 10 points (all in the second quarter) and 12 rebounds.
After both sides exchanged buckets to start the second half, Troy ended the game early with a 10-0 run into the media timeout for a 63-35 lead with 6:15 on the clock. Baez started and ended the run with a 3-pointer, with a layup and two free throws from Dyer included.
South Alabama aimed to come back, bringing the margin to single-digits, 76-67, with 4:56 remaining in the fourth quarter on a fastbreak 3-pointer from Gonzalez. But Troy turned to free throws to push the lead back to double figures with a pair from Ngnawo and Dyer for an 80-68 lead with 3:59 on the clock.
The Jaguars couldn't get the margin below eight, 80-72, with 3:06 remaining after a pull-up jumper for Sutton. But Troy had a response with another pair of free throws for Dyer and a tip-in jumper for Ngnawo to secure the double-digit victory, 84-73.
Head Coach Chanda Rigby
We are in the final stretch, marching toward a conference championship. We are tied for first, and every game is getting harder in some respect. It's one thing to get into first place, but it's harder to stay there, and that's what we're experiencing right now. We had a good first half. Our word for this game was 'sharp.' We wanted to be sharp — not just strive to win, but strive to be sharp in everything we did. I thought in many ways we were sharp in the first half. In the second half, we were not, and I think we got outplayed. Credit to South Alabama for that, but when we build a big lead, for one reason or another, teams always come back on us. We've been fortunate that we haven't lost a conference game because of it yet, but we have to figure out what's causing that and discontinue that behavior. We have one final game Saturday, our last in Trojan Arena. The seniors will be recognized. Many of them were here a few years ago when we reached the semifinals of the WNIT. The next year, they advanced to the championship game, and right now they're in first place in the Sun Belt. I hope people will come out, show them a good farewell and support us."
Up Next
The Trojans close out their four-game homestand with senior day on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 1 p.m. against Southern Miss.
Rivalry Stats
• Emani Jenkins hit four threes in the first quarter for her 17th game with three or more threes in a game. She finished with five in the first half for her fifth game with five or more.
• Troy finished with double-digit threes (10) against South Alabama for the 59th time in head coach Chanda Rigby's career, improving her record to 51-8 when her team makes 10-plus threes.
• Fortuna Ngnawo ended the first half with 10 points and 12 rebounds for her 15th double-double in the last 19 games.
• Zay Dyer secured her 19th double-double of the season with her 10th rebound with 1:31 left in the fourth quarter after scoring 16 points.
• Troy's won 11 straight at home against South Alabama with the victory on Wednesday night.
• Ashley Baez led the team with eight assists for her seventh game with 5 of more assists.
• The victory for Troy secured it a top-five seed in the Sun Belt Tournament.
The Trojans (22-5, 13-2 SBC) take a half-game advantage for first in the Sun Belt standings and secure a top 5 seed with their seventh straight league victory. Meanwhile, the Jaguars (9-17, 2-13 SBC) are guaranteed a bottom-five seed in the tournament after losing their 10th straight game.
Emani Jenkins had 17 points in the first half with five threes to end with 18 points and a team-high three steals. The duo of Fortuna Ngnawo and Zay Dyer had double-doubles to remain No. 1 and No. 2 in the conference. Ngnawo ended with a team-high 18 rebounds and 16 points, while Dyer had 16 points and 10 rebounds. The pair combined for five blocks. Ashley Baez stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points and a team-high eight assists for her seventh game with five or more assists in a game. Overall, the Trojans made 11 3-pointers on 27 attempts for 40.7 percent, while holding the Jaguars to 5-of-27 for 18.5 percent from deep.
South Alabama distributed the scoring with five players in double-figures via Tamara Ortiz (12), Diawna Carter-Hartley (12), Amyah Sutton (12), Daniela Gonzalez (10) and Alicia Spann (10). Gonzalez and Carter-Hartley also had double-doubles on 10 and 11 rebounds, respectively. The Jaguars couldn't overcome a first half where they shot 26.3 percent from the field and 11.8 percent from deep in the loss.
Over From the Start
Troy fired out strong, starting with Jenkins, who made a jumper inside the paint and followed it with a three for the 5-1 lead at the 2:31 mark of the opening quarter. A layup for South Alabama was followed by buckets from Baez and Rachel Leggett for a 9-3 advantage at the 5:58 mark.
South Alabama kept it close, bringing the margin to four, 12-8, with 2:12 left in the quarter, with three free throws. The Trojans responded with an 11-0 run to end the quarter that had three 3-pointers from Jenkins, including a buzzer-beater to end the first with a 25-10 advantage. Leggett scored the other four points on the run with two free throws and a pull-up jumper.
In the first quarter, Troy shot 47.4 percent from the field, 55.6 percent from deep on five made 3-pointers and 2-of-2 at the line, with seven assists. Meanwhile, the Jaguars went 2-of-17 (11.8 percent) from the field and 0-of-7 from deep. Jenkins ended the first with 14 points on four threes.
Leilani Guion kept Troy's run going in the first 19 seconds of the second quarter with her first 3-pointer, 28-10. Six minutes later, the Jaguars cut the margin to 11, 37-26, off an and-one by Sutton. But Troy looked again to Jenkins for her fifth 3-pointer of the half to open a 7-0 run – Ngnawo continued the run with a pair of free throws and a jumper.
The Trojans ended the first half with a 5-0 burst in the final 32 seconds with a driving layup by Ngnawo and a buzzer-beater 3-pointer from Saniya Jackson. Troy found itself up 20, 51-31, at the half, shooting 46.2 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from deep and 87.5 percent from the line. Ngnawo secured her 15th double-double in the first half on 10 points (all in the second quarter) and 12 rebounds.
After both sides exchanged buckets to start the second half, Troy ended the game early with a 10-0 run into the media timeout for a 63-35 lead with 6:15 on the clock. Baez started and ended the run with a 3-pointer, with a layup and two free throws from Dyer included.
South Alabama aimed to come back, bringing the margin to single-digits, 76-67, with 4:56 remaining in the fourth quarter on a fastbreak 3-pointer from Gonzalez. But Troy turned to free throws to push the lead back to double figures with a pair from Ngnawo and Dyer for an 80-68 lead with 3:59 on the clock.
The Jaguars couldn't get the margin below eight, 80-72, with 3:06 remaining after a pull-up jumper for Sutton. But Troy had a response with another pair of free throws for Dyer and a tip-in jumper for Ngnawo to secure the double-digit victory, 84-73.
Head Coach Chanda Rigby
We are in the final stretch, marching toward a conference championship. We are tied for first, and every game is getting harder in some respect. It's one thing to get into first place, but it's harder to stay there, and that's what we're experiencing right now. We had a good first half. Our word for this game was 'sharp.' We wanted to be sharp — not just strive to win, but strive to be sharp in everything we did. I thought in many ways we were sharp in the first half. In the second half, we were not, and I think we got outplayed. Credit to South Alabama for that, but when we build a big lead, for one reason or another, teams always come back on us. We've been fortunate that we haven't lost a conference game because of it yet, but we have to figure out what's causing that and discontinue that behavior. We have one final game Saturday, our last in Trojan Arena. The seniors will be recognized. Many of them were here a few years ago when we reached the semifinals of the WNIT. The next year, they advanced to the championship game, and right now they're in first place in the Sun Belt. I hope people will come out, show them a good farewell and support us."
Up Next
The Trojans close out their four-game homestand with senior day on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 1 p.m. against Southern Miss.
Rivalry Stats
• Emani Jenkins hit four threes in the first quarter for her 17th game with three or more threes in a game. She finished with five in the first half for her fifth game with five or more.
• Troy finished with double-digit threes (10) against South Alabama for the 59th time in head coach Chanda Rigby's career, improving her record to 51-8 when her team makes 10-plus threes.
• Fortuna Ngnawo ended the first half with 10 points and 12 rebounds for her 15th double-double in the last 19 games.
• Zay Dyer secured her 19th double-double of the season with her 10th rebound with 1:31 left in the fourth quarter after scoring 16 points.
• Troy's won 11 straight at home against South Alabama with the victory on Wednesday night.
• Ashley Baez led the team with eight assists for her seventh game with 5 of more assists.
• The victory for Troy secured it a top-five seed in the Sun Belt Tournament.
Team Stats
USA
TROY
FG%
.378
.409
3FG%
.185
.407
FT%
.706
.864
RB
44
45
TO
10
10
STL
8
6
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
1
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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G
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G
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G
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G
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F
/ Basketball (W)Troy vs. South Alabama (Full Highlights)
Wednesday, February 18
Player Postgame Press Conference (Rachel Leggett, Emani Jenkins) - South Alabama
Wednesday, February 18
Chanda Rigby Postgame Press Conference - South Alabama
Wednesday, February 18
Underdogs Untold: Clutch for a Cause
Tuesday, February 17