Troy Explodes in the Second Half in 87-79 Win Over Arkansas State

The Troy Trojan women’s basketball team put its six game win streak on the line when it hosted Arkansas State at home on Saturday.

After a slow start, the Trojans rallied in the second half for an 87-79 win. Troy scored 57 points in the second to push Troy beyond its 81.5 points per game average, which leads the Sun Belt.

The first few moments of the game went the Trojans’ way, but the Red Wolves quickly took control.

Troy opened up the game with a 7-2 lead but the rest of the first quarter belonged to Arkansas State. The turnover bug bit the Trojans, who gave the ball up seven times in the first 10 minutes of the game.

Arkansas State hit just three of its first 10 shots but responded to Troy’s hot start with a 10-0 run. The final two minutes was an energy-draining boat race that saw little scoring.

Troy missed nine of its last 10 shots of the quarter and found itself down 19-13 heading into the second quarter.

The Trojans picked up their offensive production in the next stanza, but only marginally. Troy turned the ball over another seven times, finishing the half with 14 turnovers.

A Kayla Robinson three-point play and Amber Rivers three were the highlights of the quarter. Troy shot just 30.8 percent from the field in the first half and 2-11 from deep.

The Red Wolves led at the break, 38-30. Arkansas State hit on only 37.5 percent of its shots, but got six of 12 threes to go down against one of the nation’s top three-point defenses.

Even Troy’s strong-point was stifled by its inability to capitalize. The Trojans grabbed 10 offensive rebounds but scored just five second chance points.

Troy exploded out of the second half gates, though, thanks largely to forward Kate Rodgers. The junior scored Troy’s first seven points and sparked an 11-2 run to give Troy a 41-40 lead.

The two teams went back and forth before the Trojans turned up the heat and began creating some space.

Rivers continued her hot shooting, hitting a big three to extend the Troy lead to 51-46 before the media timeout. After some bucket trading from both sides, the third quarter ended with Troy up 60-58.

The Trojans shot 48.1 percent in the quarter while doubling their halftime score. The blistering quarter bled into the fourth, where Troy scored the first six points on three shots to extend its lead out to 66-58 with 8:29 remaining in the game.

The scoring died down a little before an 8-0 run by Arkansas State cut Troy’s lead to 72-70 just inside five minutes left.

Back-to-back scores by Robinson and Harriet Winchester gave the Trojans some space but a pair of free throws from Arkansas State’s Payton Tennison set up a close race to the finish line.

Rivers hit a long two and then a three, but the shots sandwiched a 5-0 Red Wolve spurt. Robinson then hit a jumper from mid-range, forcing an Arkansas State timeout in the final minute with Troy up 83-77.

A Winchester lay-up courtesy of Robinson’s eight assist put the game on ice with 33 seconds left to play.

The win moved Troy to 13-2, which is tied for the best start in program history, and 4-0 in conference play. Troy shot a cool 58.1 percent in second half after missing just five shots in the fourth quarter.

The Trojans 25 made field goals in the second half more than doubled the 12 made in the first.

“If I had to choose, I’d rather be a good finishing team than a starting team,” Troy assistant coach Neil Harrow said following the game.

The Trojan turnaround can be credited to a locker room attitude change led by the players at halftime.

“We got in that mindset that we’re not going to lose home, we’re not going to lose a conference game,” Robinson said after the game. “We were all in the locker room hyping each other up and encouraging each other to come out here and play our hardest.”

Robinson finished the game with 14 points, eight assists and five rebounds.

As a team, Troy outrebounded Arkansas State 57-37 and scored 24 second chance points, 19 coming in the second half.

The 57 rebounds eclipses the team’s season average, which currently leads the nation.

Rivers led the team with 22 points on 9-14 shooting, including four buckets from long range. Winchester finished with 12 while Rodgers had 11.

Troy will take the Georgia tour next week, playing at Georgia Southern on Thursday and Georgia State on Saturday.