Trojan women drop two more conference games

The Troy women’s basketball team continued its current losing streak in conference play, losing at UALR on Thursday, Feb. 4, and on the road to Arkansas State on Saturday, Feb. 6.

In both games, the Trojans (10-11, 5-7 Sun Belt) played well in the first half, only to lose momentum and fall short in the second.

Against the host UALR Trojans (10-11, 8-4 Sun Belt), Troy played an up-tempo, high-scoring first two quarters, reminiscent of earlier in the season when the Trojans were scoring above 100 points consistently.

After the first quarter of play, the visitors owned a 21-14 lead over UALR, helped in large part by 13 first-half points by senior guard Ashley Beverly-Kelley.

In the second quarter, Troy kept UALR on its heels, shooting 51.7 percent from the field. The result was a 40-28 lead for the visiting Trojans going into the locker room.

In the second half, however, UALR found its rhythm offensively. The hosting Trojans negated a poor shooting performance in the first half by making 53.3 percent of their shots, including five-of-12 from beyond the arc.

UALR’s offensive success in the second half came from four players scoring in double digits. Junior guard Sharde’ Collins and senior forward Shanity James both scoring 18 points.

Troy had no answer for either player in the second half, as UALR developed a comfortable lead early in the fourth quarter. The home team would ride out the remainder of the game to win 79-64.

The story remained the same for the Trojans in their following game against Arkansas State, as they lost their second game of the weekend 80-94.

Troy played another solid first half against the Red Wolves (18-3, 12-0 Sun Belt), who have dominated in conference play thus far this season.

Beverly-Kelley once again was the offensive leader for the Trojans, putting up 14 points and seven boards in the first against Arkansas State.

Defensively, Troy played a solid first half, holding the Red Wolves to six-of-21 from three-point range, a success given Arkansas State’s dominance from beyond the arc. From the field, the Trojans held the home team to just 35.1 percent. Despite the good defense, Troy remained on the low end of a 38-39 score.

“Our goal was to reduce their points in paint, and we cut that in half,” Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said.  “We did not shoot well or play well in the fourth quarter, which is a big concern and the thing we most need to fix.”

The second half was again a different story for the Trojans. Arkansas State took over offensively and outscored Troy, with three Red Wolves scoring 20 or more points.

Most of these came in the fourth quarter, when Arkansas State outscored Troy 30-20 to hold off the visitors and remain undefeated in conference play.

Beverly-Kelley was the top-scoring Trojan once again, with 32 points.

Troy will return to Trojan Arena to take on Georgia Southern. Tipoff is scheduled for Friday, February 11 at 5:15 p.m.