Hatters in 89-56 blowout

By STEVEN G. WATSON

Sports Editor

It was pretty obvious Saturday night that the Troy State Lady Trojans are starting to enjoy the fact that they have a full roster again.

In an 89-56 romp over the Stetson Lady Hatters, the Lady Trojans (6-9 overall, 3-4 in Trans America Athletic Conference play) used a committee of players to notch probably their best offensive showing of the season. They didn’t score as many points as their 98-90 overtime win against Texas Pan American back on Nov. 19, but it was the consistency of the offense that impressed TSU head coach Jerry Hester.

"Probably overall, as far as being consistent in a game, this is the best offensively I’ve seen us play," he said after his team won its second in a row. "We’ve had spurts in games where we played that well on offense, but this was our best overall."

The secret to the offensive onslaught came as every player on the TSU bench saw at least 15 minutes of playing time. Hester rotated his players in and out, sometimes five at a time, playing almost two separate teams.

"It got to where you knew you had it so you might as well play them in groups," Hester said. "We wore them down the longer we went and basically that’s our philosophy, that’s our game plan. That’s why we love to have 10 players because we hope we can break you before the game is over with."

Troy State never trailed in the game and broke things open on a 12-2 run to start the second half. The Lady Trojans managed to score 28 points in the first 10 minutes blistering the nets for 50 total points in the second half.

The offense was a focus for Hester’s squad, but it was their defense that pleased the coach the most.

"I thought it was our best defensive effort, maybe since I’ve had the job," Hester said. "We came back after the Mercer game and we’ve worked really hard defensively. We’ve tried to focus on it and we knew that we could hold teams while we took advantage on the offensive end."

The Lady Trojans were led by five different players who scored in double figures.

Keisha Ellis led the way with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds in only 15 minutes on the court. Aja Gates had 14 off the strength of four big 3-pointers, Abby Boone and Tomekia Golatte notched 13 and Chaquita Alexander had 11. Sharin Milner helped out her cause as the leagues’ assist leader with nine.

Boone’s performance added to her 24 point showing against Jacksonville Thursday earned her TAAC player of the week honors

The Troy State women will play again Thursday at Georgia State.