Ball State University secured a narrow victory over the Troy Trojans women’s basketball team, winning 87-86 in Muncie, Indiana on Saturday. The game ended with Ball State’s Zhen Verburgt hitting a three-pointer with six seconds remaining.
Troy’s Rachel Leggett reached her 1,000th career point during the game and Emani Jenkins set a new single-season record for three-pointers made at Troy, finishing with her 74th of the season.
The Trojans now have a record of 19-5 after this loss in the MAC-SBC Challenge and are 2-4 in that series. They outperformed Ball State in rebounding, collecting 49 to Ball State’s 41, and shot 40 percent from beyond the arc with 12 made threes. All five starters for Troy scored in double figures. Fortuna Ngnawo led with 16 points; Zay Dyer added 15 points and claimed her league-best 16th double-double; Leggett had her second double-double as a Trojan with 10 points and 11 rebounds; Ashley Baez scored 10 points; Jenkins finished with 14 points including four three-pointers.
Ball State matched Troy’s overall record at 19-5 following this win. Tessa Towers led their scoring with 19 points and nine rebounds. Grace Kingery contributed 17 points while Bree Salenbien had 14. Verburgt, who made the decisive basket, ended the game with seven points.
The game was close throughout. After trailing by four at halftime, Leggett opened the third quarter for Troy by joining the program’s “1,000-point club” with an early three-pointer. The lead changed several times before Troy went ahead by as many as ten early in the fourth quarter following Jenkins’ record-breaking shot.
Ball State responded late in the fourth quarter, closing a double-digit gap to take the lead on Verburgt’s final shot. In their last possession, Troy was unable to convert before time expired.
“We played a very high level of competition today. The team we faced is very good and well-coached. Our team played them toe-to-toe the entire time. We got big leads, but we have to get better down the stretch. I felt like I could have, of course, put our team in a position to win, but we just didn’t get it done. I’m going to choose to stay positive because that’s all I can do right now. There is a lot to be proud of, especially with Rachel and Emani etching their names in Troy history. Now, we get to go home and get in games that actually count towards our quest for a title,” said head coach Chanda Rigby.
Jenkins has hit at least one three-pointer in every game but one this season for Troy and has multiple threes in most contests so far this year.
Troy will return home for its next matchup against Louisiana on Thursday, February 12 at Trojan Arena.
