by CLEMSON, South Carolina – For the second straight game, a late first half run was the downfall for the Troy women’s basketball team as the Trojans fell to Clemson, 82-73, at Littlejohn Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
Troy (0-2) was up by five points, 32-27, with 3:19 to go in the first half, but Clemson (2-0) scored 11 straight to take a 38-32 lead into the locker room. The Trojans missed five shots and had three turnovers during the run as the Tigers took a lead they never gave up.
Clemson actually built the lead up to as many as 13 points with 7:35 to go in the game, but the Trojans cut that lead down to five points twice. However, Troy never got closer as Clemson shot well from the free throw line.
“The let down was the last four minutes of the second half,” Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. “We lost intensity there. We had long spans where we played with great intensity, but we lost it during that stretch. We did a lot of things better then them and we just need to build off of that between now and Friday.”
Ronita Garrett led Troy with a double-double in her second straight game, posting 16 points and 10 rebounds on 8-of-16 shooting. Caitlyn Ramirez (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma) and Ashley Beverly-Kelley each had 10 points and five rebounds for a Troy team that outrebounded Clemson, 43-40.
Kristen Emerson just missed a double-double as she tied career highs with nine points and eight rebounds. Lacey Buchanon also had nine points for the Trojans.
Troy again struggled with turnovers, committing 23 of them, with seven coming early in the second half while Clemson built its largest lead. The Tigers shot 24-of-27 from the free throw line, including 12-of-13 in the second half to hold the Trojans off.
Shelbie Davenport, one of nine Clemson freshmen, had 17 points to lead the Tigers, despite shooting just 1-of-5 from deep. Clemson, who hit nine 3-pointers in its season-opening win on Friday over UNCG, had just four on Sunday as Troy keyed in on the Tigers’ shooters.
Cha’nelle Perry, another freshman, had 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for the Tigers. Nikki Dixon and Ivy Atkism also scored in double figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Troy shot 43 percent (30-of-70) in the game after shooting just 27 percent in a loss at Auburn on Friday. The Trojans actually made more field goals that the Tigers who hit 27-of-64 shots (42 percent).
The difference came at the charity stripe where Troy was 10-of-15, making less than half as many shots as the Tigers. The total foul count was close, but eight of Clemson’s 19 fouls were on the offensive end as Troy’s help defense continued to draw charges.
Troy returns to the court on Friday when it hosts Southeastern Louisiana at Trojan Arena at 12 p.m. in the Trojans’ home opener. Troy has not started 0-3 in either of Rigby’s first two seasons.
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