Troy University Athletics
Saturday, March 5
Arlington, Texas
5 p.m.
Troy University
17-12, 12-8SBC
80
at
70
UT Arlington
15-15, 10-10SBC
1
2
3
4
F
Troy
22
18
18
22
80
UT Arlington
17
9
18
26
70
Team Stats
TROY
UTA
FG%
.464
.472
3FG%
.364
.462
FT%
.870
.778
RB
31
30
TO
20
21
STL
9
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
26
FGM
10
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
20
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
8
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
6
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Basketball (W)F
/ Basketball (W)G
/ Basketball (W)
Photo by: Chris Davis
Troy Women Win Fifth Straight Ahead of Sun Belt Tournament
3/5/2016 8:06:00 PM | Basketball (W)
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Troy women's basketball team led wire-to-wire and won its fifth straight game, beating UT Arlington, 80-70, at the College Park Center in Saturday's regular season finale.
Troy (17-12, 12-8) has won seven of its last eight games and will now turn its attention to next week's Sun Belt Championships. The Trojans will open the tournament on Wednesday as the No. 4 seed in a quarterfinal against South Alabama.
On Saturday against UT Arlington, Ashley Beverly Kelley led the way for Troy with 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-8 from deep. The Sun Belt's leading scorer also dished out a team-high four assists in her final regular season game.
ArJae' Saunders added 20 points, marking her sixth 20-point game in the last nine for Troy, while Caitlyn Ramirez added 15 points and a game-high seven rebounds.
Troy came out and stymied UT Arlington (15-15, 10-10) on the Mavericks' first five possessions, opening up a 7-0 lead after UTA turned the ball over twice and air-balled two 3-pointers, along with another miss. Beverly Kelley hit three of her 3-pointers as part of an 11-point first quarter and Troy took a 22-17 lead after the first 10 minutes.
The Trojans then held UT Arlington to 2-of-9 shooting in the second quarter and extended the lead to 14 points at halftime, 40-26. The Mavericks did make 8-of-12 free throws in the first half to stay within striking distance.
UTA had the lead down to seven, 51-44, with 3:56 to go in the third quarter, but Troy closed on a 7-0 run, capped by a Saunders buzzer-beating 3-pointer, to get back up by 14 points, 58-44, with 10 minutes to go.
Saunders then converted a 3-point play to open the fourth, and Troy took its biggest lead of the night, 61-44. However, Amara Wainwright hit three 3-pointers in four possessions and got the Mavericks back within single digits, 63-55, with 7:45 still to go.
Troy, however, was excellent at the free throw line for the second straight game and hit 12-of-13 in the fourth quarter to keep the Mavericks from getting any closer than seven points down the stretch. Overall, Troy made 20-of-23 free throws on the night, just 48 hours after hitting 28-of-33 at Texas State.
The Trojans also outrebounded their eighth straight opponent, but just by one board, 31-30, over a UTA team that entered with the best rebounding margin in the conference. The Mavericks also entered with the Sun Belt's second best scoring defense, allowing just 55 points per game, but Troy surpassed that mark with Saunders' third-quarter buzzer-beater.
There weren't many rebounds to be had as each team shot well. Troy hit 46 percent (26-of-56), including 8-of-22 from deep, while UT Arlington shot 47 percent (25-of-53) with 6-of-13 from deep. The Mavericks made 17-of-31 (55 percent) in the second half after the poor second quarter, but Troy never let UTA get closer than within seven points in the final 20 minutes.
Rebekah VanDijk led the Mavericks with 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting, but the 6-foot-5 sophomore grabbed just three rebounds. Wainwright finished with 20 points, including 4-of-6 from long range.
Troy will now prepare for next week's Sun Belt Championships, looking for revenge against their in-state rival, South Alabama. The Jaguars won both of this season's meetings, but by just a combined six points, including Troy's only loss in its last eight games.
The Trojans and Jaguars will play in Wednesday's 2 p.m. quarterfinal at Lakefront Arena with the winner moving on to face the winner of regular-season champion Arkansas State and Appalachian State in a Friday semifinal.
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