For the second year in a row the Troy Trojans are headed to the WNIT Great 8 after knocking off the North Texas Mean Green by a score of 88-86 in overtime in the Super 16 at Trojan Arena on Thursday night.

In addition to the Troy win, senior Zay Dyer set the Troy single season Division I rebound record, surpassing Felmas Koranga for the record with rebounds this season. The all-time single-season record still sits at Kathy Russell’s 394 rebounds in 1980 when Troy was a part of the AIAW.

The two sides traded leads a number of times in the first quarter with Troy ultimately taking a 19-14 lead into the second period. Troy led by as many as six points, on three different occasions, in the second quarter and led almost the entirety of the frame, but North Texas rallied late and managed to take a 40-39 lead over Troy into halftime.

Troy went on two seperate 6-0 runs in the third quarter and led by as many as nine points but North Texas went on a 5-0 run of its own late to cut the Trojan lead to 64-59 going into the final period. North Texas went on 4-0 runs three separate times in the fourth quarter and managed to finally retake the lead 74-73 with 1:21 left.

Troy’s Brianna Jackson knocked down 1-of-2 free throws with 44 seconds left to tie things up 74-74. On North Texas’ next possession, Jackson swatted her eighth block of the game into the stands but a Troy foul on a second chance shot allowed the Mean Green to retake the lead 75-74 with 16 seconds left.

On the final possession, Troy’s Emani Jenkins missed a three-pointer and it seemed like North Texas came down with the defensive rebound only for Jenkins to take the ball away. The Mean Green fouled Jenkins on the second-chance shot and she drilled 1-of-2 free throws to tie the score 75-75 with less than a second remaining to send the game into overtime.

“The will to win can’t be beat,” Troy Coach Chanda Rigby said. “We did not play perfect basketball. We shot poorly from the free throw line; we had some key turnovers and lost focus, but at the end of the game, our crowd really helped us pull through and the players fought with all their emotion and belief. We subbed Ashley [Baez] in for defense, but when we got the stop, she took off with it, got fouled and made her free throws. That’s what everyone is going to remember.”

North Texas seemed to take control in overtime, leading by as many as six until Troy went on a 6-0 run capped off by a layup plus a free throw after a foul from Briana Peguero to tie things up 86-86 with 23.7 seconds left. North Texas attempted to hold the ball for the last shot but Dyer grabbed a rebound off the shot attempt and Ashley Baez was fouled just before the buzzer. Baez knocked down a pair of free throws, her only points of the contest, to lift Troy to an 88-86 win.

Troy shot 49.3 percent from the field and North Texas shot 40.3 percent. The Trojans won the rebound battle 54-39 but turned the ball over a season-high 30 times. Troy outscored North Texas 52-36 in the paint but North Texas scored 28 points of turnovers.

The Trojans were led by Dyer with 23 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks and two steals, while Shaulana Wagner tallied 17 points, 10 assists and five rebounds. Peguero also totaled 14 points and three rebounds, while Jackson scored 14 points with nine rebounds and eight blocks. Jenkins chipped in with 10 points and four rebounds.

Troy will play in the Great 8 at North Dakota State on Monday, March 31, at 7 p.m.