Women take fourth Sun Belt loss; Troy, 18-6, heads into final stretch before Sun Belt Tournament

Dylan Hurst The Trojans fell 85-70 against Georgia State in Sun Belt Conference play in the Trojan Arena on Thursday night. The Trojans shot 24-of-72 (33 percent) while Georgia State completed its season sweep by shooting 30-of-64 (47 percent). Sophomore Jasmine Robinson led the team with 17 points scored on 14 attempts while going 4-of-7 from three. However, Troy scored on only 9-of-34 three-point shots as a team. Troy was down by 23 in the second half but cut the lead down to 10 points with 7:23 remaining in the third quarter. Turnovers marred the Trojans as GSU scored 26 points off of 25 Trojan turnovers. Junior Japonica James completed her first career double-double with 10 points and rebounds while senior Sky’Lynn Holmes posted 14 rebounds, her fifth Sun Belt Conference play with 13 or more rebounds. In a very high-scoring game, Troy raced past Georgia State in a 100-78 win in Trojan Arena on Saturday afternoon. Junior Tyra Johnson made six threes in the fourth quarter, one shy of tying the team's Division I single-game record, to finish with a team-leading 18 points in only nine minutes of game time. The Eagles got a great start making five threes in the first quarter and ended with a 7-0 run to take the lead, 22-20. Halfway through the second quarter, Troy found themselves trailing 25-22. Then, they went on a 20-4 run including four three-point shots scored to take a double-digit lead. Troy dominated the boards during the entire game to out-rebound the Eagles 52-29 overall and 23-9 on the offensive glass. The Trojans made 15-of-38 of their three-point shots in the game. This success ties the number for the most three-point shots ever made in Trojan Arena and the most made by Troy overall since they made 15 against Georgia State in 2014. Senior Shaterrika O’Neal scored 13 point on 3-of-6 shots made, and junior Amber Rivers scored 12 points. Redshirt junior Jasmine LeBlanc scored 11 points and five rebounds while junior Kate Rodgers had a game-high 11 rebounds. The Trojans will play only one game next week when conference rival South Alabama visits Trojan Arena on Saturday at 2 p.m.