by By Matt Hays, Troy Athletics
TROY, Alabama – The Troy women’s basketball team shut down West Alabama in the second half and pulled away with a 103-72 win at Trojan Arena on Friday in the Trojans’ season opener.
Senior Ashley Beverly Kelley, a Mid-Major All-American, led the Trojans with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-5 from deep, marking the 25th 20-point game of her career. She led four Troy starters who scored in double figures and also tied a career-high with seven steals.
Troy (1-0) forced West Alabama into 32 turnovers, including 18 in the first half. However, the Tigers began to find their way behind the Trojan press and closed the second quarter on a 12-0 run that cut Troy’s lead to 57-45 at halftime.
“I would’ve loved to have played better in the first half, especially on the defensive end,” Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. “It forced us to get out of our press in the second half, which we never want to do. But, to be able to concentrated on a few things and do them well, we just went to our half court defense.”
In their half court defense, Troy held the Tigers to only 27 points on 36 percent shooting (10-of-28) in the second half and pulled away for their sixth straight win at Trojan Arena. Junior Caitlyn Ramirez (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma) sparked the Troy offense in the second half as she went 5-for-5 in the final frame. The Preseason All-Sun Belt selection finished with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and also chipped in four steals.
Despite West Alabama’s ability to score in the first half, Troy’s 3-point shooting kept it in control as the Trojans hit 10-of-21 deep balls in the opening two quarters. Troy finished 11-of-31 as senior Rachel Reid joined Beverly Kelley with four 3-pointers to make up her 12 points. Junior college transfer Ta’Kierra Gibbs also hit two treys for the Trojans and was the fourth Troy player in double figures with 10 points.
Rigby and the Trojans routinely substituted five players at a time, and therefore evenly distributed the games minutes among their 13 available players. Every Trojan played at least nine minutes and none played more than Beverly Kelley’s 27 minutes.
Sophomore Amanda Mendoza was perhaps the biggest spark off the bench as the 5-foot-3 junior college transfer dished out 12 assists and had no turnovers in 20 minutes. Freshman Amahni Upshaw also had an impressive debut with eight points and a team-best eight rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench.
Troy finished the game at 48 percent (40-of-83) from the floor while West Alabama shot 46 percent (28-of-61). Troy scored 37 points off of the Tiger’s turnovers and forced 30-plus turnovers for the ninth time under Rigby who began her fourth season at Troy on Friday.
Ariel Wilson led West Alabama with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting while Sydney King was also 6-of-10, scoring 14 points off the bench.
Troy now turns its attention to a tough road game at Samford on Tuesday. The Trojans and Bulldogs will tip at 6 p.m. at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham. Troy defeated Samford at Trojan Arena last season, 76-67.
