by TROY, Alabama – The Troy women’s basketball team didn’t miss from the field or the line in the final three minutes and used that late run to beat UL Lafayette, 90-83, at Trojan Arena on Thursday night.
Troy (14-12, 9-8) made its last six field goals and its last seven free throws after UL Lafayette (18-8, 11-6) took a three-point lead with 3:11 to play. The Ragin’ Cajuns came in with the Sun Belt’s top scoring defense, allowing just 54.8 points per game, but Troy passed that mark in the third quarter.
The 90 points were the most scored against UL Lafayette this season and gave Troy, averaging 82.6 per game coming in, its 16th game over 80 points this season.
ArJae’ Saunders led four Trojans in double figures with 21 points, including 16 in the first half as Troy built a lead. Claresa Banks added a career-high 18 points off the bench for Troy, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Caitlyn Ramirez (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma) scored 15, including eight in the final three minutes. Ashley Beverly Kelley struggled from the field, but scored 12 on 3-of-11 shooting and added 10 assists with just one turnover for her seventh career double-double.
“This win was important because it was close,” Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. “We were down by three points with three minutes to go, but we fought back and were calm enough to make the plays to win. That shows growth as a team.”
After the Trojans led by as many as 11 points late in the third quarter, the Cajuns began to chip away. Keke Veal, who scored a game-high 34 points, scored or assisted on 16 straight Cajun points and put ULL up, 68-66, early in the fourth quarter.
The Cajuns held the lead, 74-71, with 3:11 to go in the game, but that is when the Sun Belt’s top offense got going. Ramirez took and made her first 3-pointer of the game, tying the score 74-74 with 2:50 to go.
From there, the Trojans would not miss as Ramirez gave Troy the lead just 35 seconds later on a fast break bucket after Kristen Emerson grabbed a rebound and found Ramirez streaking down the floor. Emerson pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds and led Troy to a 49-37 rebounding advantage on the night. Emerson grabbed 10-plus boards for the third straight game and is averaging 10.4 in the last five games.
After Veal missed a 3-pointer on the Cajuns’ next possession, Amanda Mendoza hit a pull jumper, got fouled, and made the free throw to put Troy up by five, 79-74. The Trojans then forced a turnover on the defensive end, and Ramirez hit her second 3-pointer to put Troy up by eight, 82-74, with just 1:16 to go.
Veal would hit three 3-pointers down the stretch, but Troy always had the answers as Banks, Saunders and Beverly Kelley all scored in the final minute for the Trojans.
On the night, Troy shot 44 percent (30-of-69) from the field, 43 percent (9-of-21) from deep and 21-of-31 (68 percent) from the free throw line. The Ragin’ Cajuns shot 41 percent (28-of-68) overall, 8-of-14 from deep and 19-fo-25 (76 percent) from the line.
Troy has won four of its last five games and moves into a tie for fourth place in the Sun Belt standings with just three regular season games remaining before the Sun Belt Championships begin on March 9 in New Orleans.
