Trojans Fall at No. 3 Tennessee

Saturday, December 14

Knoxville, Tenn.

1:00 p.m.

Troy University

4-5

103

Tennessee

9-0

Troy

#3/3 Tennessee

103

Photo by: Cass Davis

12/14/2013 4:47:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Box Score

By: Matt Mays

Box Score | Photo Gallery

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Troy women's basketball team played the highest ranked opponent in program history on Saturday and fell to No. 3 Tennessee, 103-64, at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Troy (4-5) was outrebonded, 74-29, in what marked the first of four straight on the road for the Trojans. Six of Tennessee's 10 players are listed at 6-foot-2 or taller with Troy's tallest player listed a 6-foot-1. Tennessee (9-0) had 32 offensive rebounds and posted 31 second-chance points.

The Trojans did force 28 turnovers against a Lady Vols team that entered averaging 16.9 turnovers per game. Troy scored 26 points off of those turnovers as Brooke Bowie and Ashley Beverly-Kelley each recorded four steals.

Beverly-Kelley led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting and led the Trojans with five assists. Joanna Harden was also in double figures with 15 points. The senior, who entered the game third in the NCAA in scoring, made just 1-of-10 from the field in the first half, but recovered to shoot 4-of-7 in the second half.

Bowie nearly posted a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds, one board shy of her career high. Tennessee had three players record double-doubles while four players posted double-figure rebounds.

In front of 11,358 fans, six Tennessee players scored in double figures, led by Meighan Simmons and Bashaara Graves who each had 16 points while Cierra Burdick had 15 off the bench.

Troy's coaching staff broke the game into segments, looking to win stints between media timeouts. Tennessee won the first couple of segments, opening the game on a 15-2 run. However, Troy forced 17 first-half turnovers and had multiple opportunities to cut the lead to 10 late in the first half as the next two segments were tight.

However, the Lady Vols closed the half on a 14-5 run and led by 21 at the break. After falling behind by 28 early in the final frame, Troy won a second-half segment and got within 17 with 12:50 to go thanks to three straight Tennessee turnovers.

Tennessee, however, corrected its turnover problems down the stretch and used a late 26-3 run to build the final margin up to 39 points.

Troy will look to snap a 17-game losing streak against the SEC on Friday when the Trojans travel to take on Alabama at 7 p.m. at Foster Auditorium.

For more information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter and Instagram at @TroyAthletics and on Facebook at Facebook.com/TroyAthletics.