Ladies drop fourth contest

Hanna Cooper After taking two more wins in conference play, the Troy women’s basketball team traveled to Mobile to take on rival South Alabama, falling 80-77. In the first quarter of play, Troy gained a 10-2 lead early over the Jaguars. South Alabama cut the eight-point deficit to four by scoring four points inside the arc. Troy extended the lead to nine points after a Jasmine Sanders three-pointer, but the Jaguars pulled the game within two by the end of the first quarter. Neither team was able to tally up more than a three-point advantage throughout the second quarter of play. The teams combined to make just 13 shots in the second quarter and went into the halftime break with the score tied at 34. Midway through the third quarter of action, Troy accumulated a six-point lead. Two made jumpers and a free throw for South Alabama pulled Troy’s lead to a single point. Again, Troy was able to kick the lead out to eight, but another jumper and free throw dialed the lead down to five going into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, South Alabama outscored the Trojans 30-22 and made 10 of their last 11 field goal attempts to upset Troy. South Alabama used the 17th lead change of the game to take control for good. Despite converting just 12 of 34 free throws in the game, the Jaguars got Troy into foul trouble early, as the Trojans committed 29 personal fouls compared to South’s 14. Harriet Winchester had a team-best of 10 points for Troy and Sky'Lynn Holmes turned in 11 rebounds. Troy fell to second in Sun Belt standings, tied with UTA. Troy travels to take on Little Rock, the team currently holding the top spot in Sun Belt standings, on Thursday.