Trojans fall in Doubletree
Published 2:27 am Sunday, November 30, 2008
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. –
Despite another career night
from sophomore Donette
McNair, the Troy Trojans fell
to Akron 58-52 in the consolation
game of the Doubletree
Classic, hosted by the
University of Tennessee at
Chattanooga.
McNair continued her
exceptional play from the low
post, recording her fourth consecutive
double-double in the
contest. The sophomore scored
a career-high 22 points and
added 11 rebounds. Kylie
Morrissy added 12 in the loss.
Senior Larelle Roper recorded
a season-high six assists and
seven rebounds for the
Trojans.
The performance by McNair
earned her the first All-
Tournament Award of her collegiate
career.
Meanwhile, Akron was led
by Kara Murphy, another alltournament
selection, with 21
points and 10 rebounds.
With 2:27 remaining in the
contest, the Trojans found
themselves down by just one
point at 51-50 and a chance to
take the lead. Troy came up
empty on their possession
after missing a lay-up, but
Akron converted their opportunity
when Kara Murphy hit
a twisting lay-up in the paint
with 1:58 remaining. The basket
by Murphy put the Lady
Zips up 53-50.
McNair gave the Trojans a
chance late in the contest when
she ripped down an offensive
rebound and was fouled. The
sophomore converted on 1-of-
2 free throws with 1:32
remaining, trimming the deficit
to 53-51. Akron pushed the
lead to 56-51 when Ashley
Veal knocked down a 3-pointer from the left win. From that
point, the Lady Zips were able
to convert free throws for the
final margin.
The Trojans battled back
from a 20-point deficit early in
the second half to force the
tight contest at the end. Down
41-21 with 15:53 to play, the
Trojans went on a 27-8 run
over the next 11:11 to pull
within a single point at 49-48.
During the run, McNair
scored 10 points; while Kirsten
Smith and Sarah McAppion
came off the bench to help
ignite the run. Smith scored
five points and McAppion four
consecutive points off the
bench. Morrissy scored eight
of 12 points in the contest during
the run.
Troy continued to battle,
although unable to take the
lead in the second half, keeping
the game at a single point
until the 3-pointer by Veal with
1:14 to play in the contest.
Troy shot 31.5 (17-of-54)
percent from the floor, 18.2
(2-of-11) percent from beyond
the arc and 69.6 (16-of-23)
percent from the free throw
line. They forced Akron into
21 turnovers, while also recording
nine steals. Akron shot
40.4 (19-of-47) percent from
the floor, 39.1 (9-of-23) percent
from beyond the arc and
just 45.8 (11-of-24) percent from the free throw line.