Troy University’s women’s basketball team was unable to overcome a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter, falling to Georgia Southern 80-69 at Trojan Arena on Thursday night. The Trojans now hold a 15-4 overall record and are 6-2 in Sun Belt Conference play, while Georgia Southern improves to 14-5 overall and 7-2 in the conference.
Despite outscoring Georgia Southern 27-18 in the final quarter and shooting nearly 47.4 percent from the field during that period, Troy could not complete its comeback. This marks only the third loss for Troy against Georgia Southern in their last 24 meetings and their first home defeat to the Eagles.
Zay Dyer reached a significant milestone by collecting her 1,000th career rebound early in the game. She finished with a double-double—15 points, 12 rebounds, and three steals—and is now ranked 15th among active Division I players for career rebounds with a total of 1,008. Fortuna Ngnawo also recorded a double-double with 10 points and a team-high 15 rebounds, marking her tenth double-double in her last eleven games. Rachel Leggett contributed 15 points and four steals, while Ashley Baez added another twelve points.
Georgia Southern’s Destiny Garrett and Shanti Simmons were key contributors for their team, combining for 57 points, eleven assists, ten steals, and eight three-pointers. McKenna Eddings scored fifteen points on four three-pointers. The Eagles shot over fifty percent from the field in the second half and forced twenty-three turnovers throughout the game.
The Trojans trailed by twenty after being outscored heavily in the third quarter but responded with several runs in the fourth quarter to narrow the gap to single digits twice. However, timely baskets from Georgia Southern kept Troy at bay until time expired.
Reflecting on the loss, Head Coach Chanda Rigby stated: “We’re heartbroken tonight in Trojan Arena. We didn’t play the way we wanted, and we didn’t get the result we wanted. Credit to Georgia Southern — Coach Hana Haden had a great game plan, and her team was very determined. We gave them confidence in the first half by having our hands down instead of up, and they made a lot of threes. We also hurt ourselves with turnovers — they weren’t forced; they were mistakes we have to correct. I take responsibility for how the third quarter went. From there, we were playing catch-up. We adjusted defensively, put in our fastest and most aggressive players, and they did well. We cut it to single digits, but they kept answering. It’s a loss, but more importantly, it’s something we have to learn from. The players will get some rest tonight, and the coaches will stay up working on the scouting report for Georgia State. We’ll address what happened in this game, but we won’t dwell on it — we have to get our emotions back up.”
Troy remains unbeaten this season when it comes to rebounding battles within league play as they outrebounded Georgia Southern by seventeen boards (48-31). Rachel Leggett has now scored double figures for ten of her last eleven games.
Troy will host another opponent from Georgia when they face Georgia State at home on Saturday at 11 a.m.
