Troy University Athletics
Wednesday, February 4
Troy, Ala.
6 p.m.
Troy University
19-4,10-2Sun Belt
69
vs
59
App State
10-12,3-9Sun Belt
1
2
3
4
F
App State
20
6
23
10
59
Troy
17
19
14
19
69
Women’s Basketball Uses Fourth-Quarter Dominance to Secure Ninth Straight Victory Over App State
2/4/2026 9:19:00 PM | Basketball (W)
TROY, Ala. – Up one to start the fourth quarter, the Troy women's basketball team outscored App State 19-10 in the final 10 minutes to secure its ninth straight victory over the opposition, 69-59, on Wednesday night in Trojan Arena.
The Trojans (19-4, 10-2 SBC) move half a game back from Arkansas State for the No. 1 spot in the Sun Belt Conference, while the Mountaineers (10-12, 3-9 SBC) remain 12th in the standings, eliminating themselves from a bye into the semifinals.
Zay Dyer dominated for Troy with 20 points, 19 rebounds and four blocks. She claimed her 15th double-double of the season to expand her lead in the conference. Seated second in the league for double-doubles, Fortuna Ngnawo had her 13th on 10 points and 14 rebounds. With her two clutch 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, Emani Jenkins ended with 13 points as she became just the third-ever D-I player for Troy to hit 70 or more threes in a single season at 71. Troy dominated the fastbreak points in the win, ending with 10 and holding App State to zero.
App State had four players end in double-figures: Daisia Mitchell (12), Elena Pericic (11), Feryal Defne Atli (10), Jada Burton (10). But the Trojans held the opposition's leading scorer, Emma Smith, to just four points on 2-of-11 shooting. The Mountaineers shot 17.6 percent in the second quarter and 23.5 percent in the final 10 minutes to be outscored by Troy 38-16 in the loss.
Fourth Quarter, Our Quarter
App State battled back from a 36-26 deficit to start the second half by taking the lead, 42-41, with 4:32 left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer. Two minutes later, Dyer responded with a second-chance layup, and Troy held the lead into the final quarter, 50-49.
The score became tied with 4:54 left with a layup for App State at 54. Jenkins responded with back-to-back made threes off assists from Saniya Jackson and Rachel Leggett to take a 60-54 lead with 4:03 on the clock –Ngnawo added a pair of free throws for an 8-0 run.
Mitchell earned the and-one to bring the margin back to five, 62-57, with 3:18 remaining before Jackson had her own 24 seconds later off an assist by Leilani Guion to return the advantage to eight, 65-57.
Troy ballooned its advantage to 12, 69-57, off a driving layup by Guion and a lay-in by Leggett with 1:34 left on the clock. The Trojan defense allowed just one more bucket from the Mountaineers as they claimed their 14th double-digit win of the season and seventh in league play.
Second Quarter Dominance
Troy trailed to start the second quarter, 20-17, before outscoring App State 19-6. Through the first half of the second quarter, Troy held App State scoreless, while Troy scored 14 straight. Dyer started Troy's run with back-to-back buckets inside on second-chance layups to take a 21-20 lead with 9:02 left.
After a minute of play, Ashley Baez found herself in the right spot for a bad pass by App State and she took it coast-to-coast for the layup. Dyer quickly returned to the scoring column with a layup off a Baez assist.
Lana Koricanac followed with back-to-back buckets before finding Ngnawo with the fastbreak layup, leading to Troy's first double-digit lead with 5:14 on the clock. App State ended Troy's 14-0 run with a layup, but Dyer responded with her 14th point in the paint.
A jumper for App State was matched with Baez driving side before she found Guion wide-open in the corner for the 3-pointer and a 36-24 lead with 2:28 remaining. The Mountaineers managed one more bucket before the break as Troy outrebounded App State 31-18 and held the opposition to 29.4 percent shooting in the first half.
Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"It was another exciting night in Trojan Arena, and we're thankful to come out with another win. Every win is important right now as we try to make a run at another conference championship. App State had a great game plan, and it was a battle of wills. They tried to slow us down and keep us from doing what we do well, and they rebounded aggressively. That's a blueprint teams will try to follow moving forward — be physical on the glass and disrupt our pace. They did a good job of that tonight, and teams ahead will try to do it even better. We've got to improve at fending that off, impose our will and maintain our pace, while also doing a better job on the boards than we did tonight."
Up Next
Troy pauses league play for the second round of the MAC-SBC Challenge as the team travels to face Ball State on Saturday, Feb. 7.
Home Win Stats
• Zay Dyer earned her 15th double-double of the season on 20 points and 19 rebounds. Fortuna Ngnawo had her 12th double-double on 10 points and 14 rebounds.
• With her four blocks against App State, Zay Dyer (83) passed Valensia Hairston for the sixth-most career blocks in a Troy D-I career.
• Emani Jenkins converted three 3-pointers for her 13th game with 3-plus three made. She also moved to sole possession of third for the most threes made in a D-I single season at Troy.
• With the victory, head coach Chanda Rigby tied Joyce Sorrell for the most wins in Troy women's basketball history at 274.
• Troy's victory over App State marked its ninth straight win over the opposition and fourth straight at home.
• With the 10-point victory, Troy's won 14 of its 19 games by double-figures, including seven in league play.
• Zay Dyer had 11 offensive rebounds over App State, becoming the second Trojan this season with 10-plus offensive boards in a game.
The Trojans (19-4, 10-2 SBC) move half a game back from Arkansas State for the No. 1 spot in the Sun Belt Conference, while the Mountaineers (10-12, 3-9 SBC) remain 12th in the standings, eliminating themselves from a bye into the semifinals.
Zay Dyer dominated for Troy with 20 points, 19 rebounds and four blocks. She claimed her 15th double-double of the season to expand her lead in the conference. Seated second in the league for double-doubles, Fortuna Ngnawo had her 13th on 10 points and 14 rebounds. With her two clutch 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, Emani Jenkins ended with 13 points as she became just the third-ever D-I player for Troy to hit 70 or more threes in a single season at 71. Troy dominated the fastbreak points in the win, ending with 10 and holding App State to zero.
App State had four players end in double-figures: Daisia Mitchell (12), Elena Pericic (11), Feryal Defne Atli (10), Jada Burton (10). But the Trojans held the opposition's leading scorer, Emma Smith, to just four points on 2-of-11 shooting. The Mountaineers shot 17.6 percent in the second quarter and 23.5 percent in the final 10 minutes to be outscored by Troy 38-16 in the loss.
Fourth Quarter, Our Quarter
App State battled back from a 36-26 deficit to start the second half by taking the lead, 42-41, with 4:32 left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer. Two minutes later, Dyer responded with a second-chance layup, and Troy held the lead into the final quarter, 50-49.
The score became tied with 4:54 left with a layup for App State at 54. Jenkins responded with back-to-back made threes off assists from Saniya Jackson and Rachel Leggett to take a 60-54 lead with 4:03 on the clock –Ngnawo added a pair of free throws for an 8-0 run.
Mitchell earned the and-one to bring the margin back to five, 62-57, with 3:18 remaining before Jackson had her own 24 seconds later off an assist by Leilani Guion to return the advantage to eight, 65-57.
Troy ballooned its advantage to 12, 69-57, off a driving layup by Guion and a lay-in by Leggett with 1:34 left on the clock. The Trojan defense allowed just one more bucket from the Mountaineers as they claimed their 14th double-digit win of the season and seventh in league play.
Second Quarter Dominance
Troy trailed to start the second quarter, 20-17, before outscoring App State 19-6. Through the first half of the second quarter, Troy held App State scoreless, while Troy scored 14 straight. Dyer started Troy's run with back-to-back buckets inside on second-chance layups to take a 21-20 lead with 9:02 left.
After a minute of play, Ashley Baez found herself in the right spot for a bad pass by App State and she took it coast-to-coast for the layup. Dyer quickly returned to the scoring column with a layup off a Baez assist.
Lana Koricanac followed with back-to-back buckets before finding Ngnawo with the fastbreak layup, leading to Troy's first double-digit lead with 5:14 on the clock. App State ended Troy's 14-0 run with a layup, but Dyer responded with her 14th point in the paint.
A jumper for App State was matched with Baez driving side before she found Guion wide-open in the corner for the 3-pointer and a 36-24 lead with 2:28 remaining. The Mountaineers managed one more bucket before the break as Troy outrebounded App State 31-18 and held the opposition to 29.4 percent shooting in the first half.
Head Coach Chanda Rigby
"It was another exciting night in Trojan Arena, and we're thankful to come out with another win. Every win is important right now as we try to make a run at another conference championship. App State had a great game plan, and it was a battle of wills. They tried to slow us down and keep us from doing what we do well, and they rebounded aggressively. That's a blueprint teams will try to follow moving forward — be physical on the glass and disrupt our pace. They did a good job of that tonight, and teams ahead will try to do it even better. We've got to improve at fending that off, impose our will and maintain our pace, while also doing a better job on the boards than we did tonight."
Up Next
Troy pauses league play for the second round of the MAC-SBC Challenge as the team travels to face Ball State on Saturday, Feb. 7.
Home Win Stats
• Zay Dyer earned her 15th double-double of the season on 20 points and 19 rebounds. Fortuna Ngnawo had her 12th double-double on 10 points and 14 rebounds.
• With her four blocks against App State, Zay Dyer (83) passed Valensia Hairston for the sixth-most career blocks in a Troy D-I career.
• Emani Jenkins converted three 3-pointers for her 13th game with 3-plus three made. She also moved to sole possession of third for the most threes made in a D-I single season at Troy.
• With the victory, head coach Chanda Rigby tied Joyce Sorrell for the most wins in Troy women's basketball history at 274.
• Troy's victory over App State marked its ninth straight win over the opposition and fourth straight at home.
• With the 10-point victory, Troy's won 14 of its 19 games by double-figures, including seven in league play.
• Zay Dyer had 11 offensive rebounds over App State, becoming the second Trojan this season with 10-plus offensive boards in a game.
Team Stats
APP
TROY
FG%
.338
.368
3FG%
.250
.217
FT%
.889
.571
RB
41
54
TO
11
11
STL
9
7
Game Leaders
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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/ Basketball (W)Troy vs. App State (Full Highlights)
Wednesday, February 04
Player Postgame Press Conference (Zay Dyer, Emani Jenkins) - App State
Wednesday, February 04
Chanda Rigby Postgame Press Conference - App State
Wednesday, February 04
Softball Positional Previews - Returners
Monday, February 02