Troy draws Texas A&M in opening round

Published 9:09 pm Monday, March 15, 2021

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The Troy Trojans Women’s basketball team learned their destination and first round opponent in the NCAA Tournament on Monday evening.

The Trojans, gathered together inside Trojan Arena, celebrated after learning they were the No. 15 seed in the Mercado Region. They will take on No. 2 Texas A&M on Monday at 5 p.m.

“It feels amazing,” head coach Chanda Rigby said. “We are blessed to be in this situation and blessed for being healthy to be here.

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“We want to put Troy on a national stage through women’s basketball. When the Power T came up, when they announced the teams that are set to go, that was the first big cheer that we gave. It feels great. We are so proud to have the Power T up there in the group with the 64 teams that will be in the tournament.”

The Trojans will take on the Aggies at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. This will be the third time the Trojans have advanced to the NCAA Tournament under head coach Chanda Rigby. They also advanced in 2016 and 2017.

The Trojans were guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament earlier this month. The Trojans are 22-5 this season.

The Aggies are 23-2 overall this season. They finished 13-1 in conference play and fell in the Southeastern Conference semifinals to Georgia. The Aggies are ranked fourth in the latest polls and was projected as a number one seed by ESPN’s Charlie Creme. Nine of the Aggie’s 23 wins have come against ranked opponents.

“The team in their conference that we play the most like is Arkansas,” Rigby said. “We run the same fast break and we strive for a lot of the same things. If I’m not wrong Arkansas lost to them by one point the first time they played them and they lost by two points more recently. We know they are going to be very good. We are at the best when we are fighting like underdogs.”

This will be the second time the Trojans have played an SEC school in the NCAA Tournament under Rigby. They took on Mississippi State in Starkville in 2017. This will be the first ever matchup between the Trojans and the Aggies.

The game can be seen on ESPN2.