by By Matt Hays, TroyTrojans.com
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – The Troy women’s basketball team held Alabama State without a field goal in the fourth quarter and dominated down the stretch in a 73-59 win on the road at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome on Tuesday night.
Troy (4-3) picked up its first road win of the season as Ashley Beverly Kelley was outstanding with 19 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Caitlyn Ramirez (Seminole Nation) added 12 points, nine rebounds and four steals for the Trojans who collected 25 Alabama State turnovers.
The Hornets led by nine, 52-43, with 3:07 to go in the third quarter. However, from there the Trojans went on a 30-7 run to close the game, including a 23-5 advantage in the fourth quarter as Alabama State (1-6) hit 0-of-11 from the floor and committed 10 turnovers in the final frame.
“It’s good to have a come from behind win on the road,” Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. “We needed that for our team confidence. We put our full court zone press on them in the fourth quarter when they were fatigued, and that energized us on offense.”
Troy also forced 10 ASU turnovers in the first quarter and held a 20-12 lead after the first 10 minutes. However, the Trojans never found their shooting rhythm and were down by as many as nine points late in the third quarter.
The Trojans finished the night at just 33 percent (23-of-69) shooting overall, including 3-of-19 from 3-point range. However, the game was a very physical one and the Trojans scored 24 points from the free throw line, but also struggled from there, hitting just 62 percent (24-of-39).
Alabama State shot 45 percent (13-of-29) in the first half, including 5-of-9 from deep, but the Hornets did not hit a 3-pointer in the second half and finished at 36 percent (19-of-53) overall.
Troy committed a season-low 11 turnovers and outscored the Hornets in points off of turnovers, 33-8. Alabama State, who excels at offensive rebounding, outrebounded Troy by just two, 48-46, while Troy grabbed more offensive boards than the Hornets.
Next up, the Trojans travel to UAB to take on the Blazers on Friday at 7 p.m. at Bartow Arena. That will be the second of three games in six days for the Trojans.
