Troy men, women win Senior Day doubleheader
Published 10:34 am Tuesday, February 20, 2024
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Both the Troy Trojans men’s and women’s basketball teams picked up wins during a home doubleheader on Feb. 17.
For the men (18-9, 11-3), it was also Senior Night and the home regular season finale as the Trojans picked up a 85-57 win over ULM. The win also gives Troy 15 home wins this season, which is the most a Troy team has accomplished since 1968. It also gives Troy the second most home wins in the country this year.
Troy shot 51.6 percent form the field – including a staggering 59.3 percent in the first half – while holding ULM to 32.3 percent shooting. Troy lost the rebound battle 45-35 but forced 16 turnovers and scored 19 points off those turnovers.
“I’m very thankful to the good lord for this victory. I thought the guys played phenomenal. One of our better games of the year all around,” Troy Coach Scott Cross said. “This is one of the best games in terms of collective effort from our team and so many guys played really good basketball. All 10 guys in the rotation did a phenomenal job on both sides of the court. They were really locked in. That’s how you send your seniors out…We ended it the right way. This was a 40-minute game for us. I’m happy for the success (Braydon Whitaker) had at the end. It’s nice to see him hit that three. Just a nice overall game from our guys.”
Senior Christyon Eugen came up big on Senior Night with 21 points and two assists, while Myles Rigsby scored 10 points, grabbed six rebounds and earned three steals. Jackson Fields added 10 points, three rebounds and four blocks.
The men’s team is now tied for second place with James Madison in the Sun Belt. Troy starts a four-game road stretch to wrap up the regular season this weekend at Arkansas State on Feb. 22 before traveling to ULM on Feb. 24. The game against Arkansas State will air nationally on ESPNU at 8 p.m.
The women (15-10, 11-3) also picked up an 81-77 win over ULM on Saturday. Nia Daniel, Tai’Sheka Porchia and Ja’Mia Hollings all had double-doubles in the win.
The win also put Troy in fourth place in the Sun Belt and clinched a double bye for the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
“We played a really tough ULM team tonight. They wanted to win really badly and we wanted to win really badly,” women’s coach Chanda Rigby said. “I’m really proud of our seniors because even though we had the normal distractions of senior day, they kept it up and won the basketball game; all of them contributed in a big way, three of them had double-doubles. Anything less than the effort they put on the floor, we would not have won.”
Porchia led Troy with 20 points, 14 rebounds and a steal, while Hollings added 17 points and 12 rebounds and Daniel earned 17 points, 12 rebounds, one steal and one assist. Leilani Guion added 10 points, four rebounds and four assists, while Sharonica Hartsfield dished seven assists in the win.
The women’s team will play Arkansas State on Wednesday on the road before traveling to rival South Alabama on Feb. 24.