by By Matt Mays
ATLANTA – Three different Trojans scored over 20 points and the Troy women’s basketball team picked up a hard fought, 97-90, win over Georgia State at the GSU Sports Arena on Thursday night.
Troy (7-5, 2-1) got 26 points from Ashley Beverly Kelley, 22 from Caitlyn Ramirez (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma) but the most impressive performance came from freshman Amahni Upshaw. The Brantley, Ala., native enter averaging 4.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, but scored 21 points with 16 rebounds on Thursday night.
“This was a tremendous win for us,” Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. “Georgia State is a very good team that is going to beat a lot of teams in our league, so to beat them on the road is huge.
“Amahni Upshaw is the first person that comes to mind. She really came out of the blocks ready to play and had an outstanding performance. Others came around behind her, but she really got it sparked for us tonight.”
Upshaw had 12 points and nine rebounds in the first half while Ramirez also had 10 points to keep Troy in the game despite an 0-of-12 3-point showing from everyone not named Amanda Mendoza.
Mendoza went 3-of-4 from deep in second-quarter and was a big reason Troy was down just one, 42-41, at halftime. Mendoza, wearing a facemask due to a facial injury, finished the game as the fourth Trojan in double figures with 11 points.
Georgia State (6-6, 1-2) had just seven turnovers in the first half, but Troy’s pressure began to hit home in the second half as the Panthers had eight turnovers in just the third quarter.
Beverly Kelley also began to hit in the second half after going 0-of-4 in the first half from the field. The Sun Belt’s leading scorer hit her first three shots in the third quarter, scoring eight points in three minutes to give Troy a lead. She finished with 13 third-quarter points as Troy outscored GSU 27-19 to take a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Troy’s lead quickly ballooned to 11 early in the fourth quarter, but GSU started hitting from deep to get back in it. After starting 0-of-11 from long range, the Panthers made three consecutive 3-pointers in less than two minutes to get within two, 74-72, with 7:05 to go.
However, Troy shot 9-of-18 from the field and 8-of-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, and Georgia State never pulled even. On the night, Troy shot an outstanding 85 percent (22-of-26) from the free throw line, including a 12-of-12 effort from Beverly Kelley who also added five rebounds, four assists and four steals to her stat line.
Overall on the night, Troy shot 45 percent (33-of-74) from the field and 28 percent (9-of-32) from deep. Georgia State hit 47 percent (33-of-70) overall, 29 percent (6-of-21) from deep and 67 perceny (18-of-27) from the free throw line.
Madison Newby led the Panthers with 20 points thanks in large part to a 12-of-19 showing at the free throw line. The freshman point guard had six assists, but also eight turnovers. Astaja Tyghter added 19 points and nine rebounds for GSU.
Next up for Troy is a less than 48-hour turnaround as the Trojans travel to take on Georgia Southern on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. CT in Statesboro, Ga. The Eagles also won on Thursday night, beating South Alabama at home inside Hanner Fieldhouse.
