Trojans Fall to Late Rally by UL Monroe

Saturday, March 1

Monroe, La.

2:00 p.m.

Troy University

11-16, 7-9

ULM

11-17, 7-9

Troy

UL Monroe

Photo by: Terrance Armstard

3/1/2014 5:01:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Box Score

By: Matt Mays

Box Score

MONROE, La. – The Troy women's basketball team led for more than 15 minutes in the second half, but UL Monroe rallied to pick up a 91-87 win at Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.

Troy (11-16, 7-9) led by as many as eight points and was ahead 78-77 with 3:40 to go. However, the Trojans didn't hit a field goal for the next three minutes as ULM rallied for the win. Troy was down by six by the time they stopped the cold spell.

The Trojans got 30 points from Joanna Harden for the seventh time this season, but the real catalyst was Kourtney Coleman who more than doubled her previous season high with 27 points. Coleman was 9-of-11 from the floor and 7-of-10 from the free throw line.

Coleman had the answer for Troy when it struggled early in both halves. Harden took over the end of the first half and had 22 at the break as Troy took a 44-38 lead into halftime.

UL Monroe (11-17, 7-9) got double-figure scoring from three of its four seniors in their final home game, a win that pulled the Warhawks and Trojans into a tie for sixth place in the Sun Belt standings.

The two are a half game up on UL Lafayette and 1 ½ up on South Alabama, two teams that play each other tomorrow. A South Alabama loss in that game would guarantee Troy a spot in the Sun Belt Championships.

The Warhawks scored on four of five possessions during Troy's cold stretch, building a six-point lead that was their biggest of the game. ULM got 10 of its 15 second-chance points in the second half, some down the stretch. The Warhawks outrebounded Troy 50-44, including 21-17 on the offensive boards.

Troy was hurt in the rebounding category by an injury to Ronita Garrett, the Sun Belt's fourth best rebounder. Garrett played for just three minutes and was hobbled by an ankle injury.

Each side hit six 3-pointers, but ULM was 4-of-6 in the second half with three of them coming in big situations down stretch, from three different seniors in Jasmine Shaw, Elexar Tugler and Alexar Tugler.

The Warhawks had five players score in double figures while Troy had three with Ashley Beverly-Kelley's 16 points joining Harden and Coleman.

The Trojans return to the court on Wednesday when they host UT Arlington at 7 p.m. at Trojan Arena.

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.