Trojans Fall Late to Texas State, Earn No. 6 Seed

Saturday, March 8

Troy, Ala.

5:15 p.m.

Troy University

12-17, 8-10

Texas State

15-14, 12-6

Texas State

Troy

Photo by: Joshua Thurston

Trojans Fall Late to Texas State, Earn No. 6 Seed

3/8/2014 8:11:00 PM | Basketball (W)

Box Score

By: Matt Mays

Box Score | Photo Gallery | Sun Belt Championships Central

TROY, Ala. – The Troy women's basketball team fell victim to a late run on Saturday night, falling 95-92 to Texas State at Trojan Arena. The Trojans are officially the No. 6 seed in next week's Sun Belt Championships and will open with UALR on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m.

Troy (12-17, 8-10) actually finished the regular season in a tie for fifth place in the standings with Georgia State, but the Panthers won the tiebreaker between the two.

On Saturday against Texas State, the Trojans led by as many as 11 in the second half, but the Bobcats slowly chipped away and tied the game with 7:35 to go. It was back-and-forth from then on, with the Bobcats grabbing the momentum late.

Texas State (15-14, 12-6) took its first lead of the second half with 1:16 to go, part of a 6-0 run that put them up 90-86 with 1:00 remaining. Texas State scored its last nine points at the line and went 9-of-10 in the final two minutes to secure the win.

Three Trojans scored 20 points on the night, led by Joanna Harden and Ronita Garrett who each had 22. Garrett also had 15 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season. Ashley Beverly-Kelley dropped in 20 points with seven rebounds and a team-high four assists.

Each team shot over 40 percent from field, including a 45 percent (32-of-71) mark from Texas State. The Trojans hit eight 3-pointers while the Bobcats had five, four from Ayriel Anderson who scored a game-high 31 points off the bench.

The back-and-forth second half was the second between Troy and Texas State this season. The Bobcats won the first in overtime in San Marcos in January. Texas State also used a late run in that game to force overtime.

Texas State led for most of the first half on Saturday, but Troy closed the half on a 20-6 run to take a nine-point, 47-38, lead into the break. The Trojans lead hovered around 10 points early in the second, and was as big as 11 with 12:31 to go.

Saturday's game marked the final at Trojan Arena for Troy's three seniors, Harden, Brooke Bowie and Dominique Ross.

Troy is officially the sixth seed for next week's Sun Belt Conference Championships and will play third-seeded UALR on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

The two split their season series with each home team winning. UALR eliminated Troy is last season's Sun Belt Championships quarterfinals. This year's tournament is being played at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, La.

For tickets, call the Troy ticket office at 1-877-878 WINS (9467) or visit TroyTrojans.com. For more information on the tournament, visit SunBeltSports.org.

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.