Around the Wall – March 8
Around the Wall is a weekly look at Troy Athletics, recapping the previous week and looking ahead to the next opponent.
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Women’s Basketball
Record: 24-8, 13-2 (Sun Belt Regular Season Champions)
Next game: WNIT 1st round (March 16-18)
Two incredible runs deep into the postseason, two heartbreaking endings on the basketball court. UTA outmatched the women, took the tournament title and grabbed the conference qualifying bid in its last Sun Belt season. It was the Trojans’ first loss since January 20.
Troy’s women can still claim a conference title each of the last three seasons and five of the last seven years. This is a dynasty that hasn’t peaked yet, and under Coach Rigby it’s only getting stronger.
The ultimate goal, of course, is taking both titles and a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
This year, the Trojans are 1-for-3, but they became the Sun Belt’s automatic qualifiers for the WNIT. A deep run in this tournament is still possible, as well as Troy played against the Sun Belt’s best this year.
The season is not over yet, and with just one win in the NIT, Troy will tie the program record for wins in a season set two years ago. Two wins breaks the record and puts Troy in the quarterfinals.
Of course, it depends on the bracket and seeding. That full bracket will be announced around 8 Sunday night, and Troy will play in the first round of the WNIT March 16-18.
Men’s Basketball
Record: 20-11, 10-6 (4th Sun Belt)
Selection Sunday starts Sunday at 5 p.m.
I think Brent Jones put it best: This team laid the foundation for success. We will remember this season as the one Troy broke through, much like Neal Brown’s 2016 year.
We saw what a successful, competitive Troy team could look like (and we’re totally taking credit for calling this one early.) With Coach Cross at the helm, and a new program identity well established, expect this team to keep climbing. “Take the Stairs” isn’t about stopping, even when you think you’ve reached the top.
The 20-win mark isn’t enough to get the conference a second berth in the tournament, and Texas State is a shoo-in for the NIT, but that doesn’t mean the Trojans’ season is over.
There are two other postseason tournaments, the College Basketball Invitational and The Basketball Classic, the successor to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Troy will likely earn a spot in the CBI, and that’s a solid opportunity for the Trojans. A Sun Belt team has been the runner-up three of the last six tournaments (Coastal 2017 and 2021, ULM in 2015).
So, the men’s season is far from over too. This is a good time to process how far they’ve come as a program, but don’t put away your brand-new Troy basketball jersey just yet.
Softball
Record: 13-5 (2nd Sun Belt)
Upcoming events: at Coastal Carolina (all weekend)
Another weekend, another win over a ranked Power 5 team. The women took down LSU Friday in another win for the ages.
They lost the next game and beat Central Connecticut, as expected, but the next two games were tough to swallow. Full credit to Louisiana Tech, who held No. 2 Bama to two runs earlier this season, but coming up short on Sunday is aggravating.
There’s no time to dwell on that though, as conference play begins this weekend. Troy heads out to Myrtle Beach, where Coastal is sitting on a 9-9 record with wins over Marshall and East Carolina.
The Chants are second in the conference in slugging percentage and lead the Sun Belt with 30 home runs (10 more than Troy in second). This power-hitting team also leads the conference with 7 at-bats that grounded into double plays (again, Troy in second). This should be a high-scoring weekend, depending on who’s on the mound.
Baseball
Record: 7-5 (6th Sun Belt)
Upcoming opponents: at Jacksonville State (Wednesday), Indiana
We won’t talk about Bama (yes, that’s Encanto) but Kennesaw State definitely gave Troy everything it could handle. Troy only led 3-2 on Friday until a 4-run eighth inning put the Owls away. KSU won Saturday, and it led 6-4 going into the eighth inning. Once again, late game heroics put the Owls to bed.
Sunday’s comeback was historic: the first time in seven years Troy has overcome a 6-run deficit and won. The Trojans didn’t just win though, they put up nine unanswered runs and won with a healthy lead.
The Trojans travel to Jacksonville State Tuesday, but then a Power 5 team comes to town, from all the way up I-65 in Bloomington, Indiana. Troy hasn’t hosted a Power 5 team for a full weekend matchup since Arkansas in 2007, and the Hoosiers definitely feel like they’re coming from out of the blue.
(It is worth noting IU is just two hours north of Coach Meade’s hometown in Louisville. Regardless, that’s an impressive pull.)
The 4-6 Hoosiers were swept by Clemson to start the season, and lost to both top-ten teams they’ve faced. They did beat Louisiana, though, so this could be a tougher matchup.
Men’s Golf
Rank: 6th Sun Belt
Upcoming events: Bash at the Beach (App State, Myrtle Beach, March 14-15)
Stat of the week: Troy leads the Sun Belt with two wins.
Winning back-to-back tournaments helped build Troy’s case, but it didn’t help on the leaderboard. Confidence and momentum are key, though, and next week’s Bash at the Beach could be an opportunity to move up.
Women’s Golf
Rank: 8th Sun Belt
Upcoming events: Spring Break Shootout (WKU, San Antonio, Fl, March 14-15)
The Benbow Invitational teed off Monday, and I’ll update this section with more stats as I get them.
Men’s Tennis
Record: 11-6 (4th Sun Belt)
Upcoming opponents: UAB (Friday)
After squeaking past Jacksonville State, Troy blasted Southern Miss and Chattanooga for a combined 11-0 run. That’s a streak, and if the Trojans can take down UAB, they’re not just running into conference play, they’re hauling.
The Sun Belt website is too far behind to give me an accurate representation of the standings (what I put is what they said, but they had Troy at 9-6), but it’s clear Troy is shaping up to be a top team in the conference. I’m excited to see what happens.
Women’s Tennis
Record: 5-6 (t4th Sun Belt)
Upcoming opponents: at ULM (Saturday), at Louisiana (Sunday)
Like the men, the women are coming off a win over Jacksonville State, except this story takes them right into conference play. Another instance of the Sun Belt website falling behind shows me four teams tied for fourth in the conference including our Trojans.
Troy travels to Louisiana this weekend, to face one team that’s 3-5 (ULM) and another that’s also a game above .500 (UL). With the exception of UTA and South Alabama’s dominance, the conference is wide open.
Outdoor Track and Field
Upcoming Event: Tiger Classic (March 18-19)
So there were really only three teams at the Jaguar Opener: Southeast Missouri, South Alabama and Troy. The men beat out South by four points, the exact amount scored by unattached competitors.
The women came in third, but they won the 400 M and 800 M.
Looking at the small number of competitors, it’s clear this was more of an exhibition, but seeing the Trojans compete well against That Team in Mobile is a solid sign for the season.
The outdoor team has a week off before heading up to Auburn.
One Cool Thing
A Trojan at the NFL Combine? Well, yes. Former Trojan Derrick Ansley, a DB coach with the LA Chargers, ran a drill at the Combine this weekend.
Props to his former teammate Johnny Faulk for spotting him and tweeting about it!