by NEW ORLEANS – The Troy women’s basketball team are heading back to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title for the second consecutive season. The Trojans defeated UL Lafayette, 78-64, on Sunday in Lakefront Arena to clinch the program’s third-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
Troy (22-10) outscored the Ragin Cajuns 25-15 in the final quarter after seeing its lead cut to two near the end of the third. Senior ArJae’ Saunders scored a team-high 13 points while tournament Most Valuable Player Caitlyn Ramirez (Seminole Nation) finished with seven points and a game-high 13 rebounds after battling through early foul trouble.
Though the Trojans led for all but 6:20 of the game, the game never felt one-sided. UL Lafayette cut a 10-point Troy lead to six just before the half and pulled within two with 24 seconds remaining in the third period. Troy got major contributions from several role players. La’Tia Fils-Aime’ posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in 13 minutes of action. Senior Kristen Emerson dominated the glass collecting nine rebounds with Ramirez on the bench.
Troy scored the last nine points of the game and sealed the victory with a steal by Ta’Kierra Gibbs. The Trojans shot 41 percent (25-61) for the game despite just 22 percent (6-27) from 3-point range.
QUOTABLE
“I thought the game, at the beginning, went exactly the way UL Lafayette would have wanted it to go,” Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. “They outrebounded us to start and that made me panic a little bit. We managed to get the lead and keep the lead. Honestly, it was one of those game that you never felt like you had the lead. That UL Lafayette team has a lot of fight and a lot of heart. Depth is a strength of ours and it came through today.”
NOTABLE
• Troy set the Sun Belt Conference Tournament rebound record with 208 rebounds in its three games.
• With the men’s victory earlier in the day, Troy became the fifth school this season to have both men’s and women’s program win the conference tournament: Florida Gulf Coast (Atlantic Sun), Princeton (Ivy), Bucknell (Patriot), Texas Southern (SWAC), Gonzaga (West Coast), New Mexico State (WAC).
• The Trojans will learn their next opponent during the NCAA Women’s Selection Show which is set for 6 p.m. (CT) on ESPN.
