The Troy women’s basketball team, seeded second in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) Tournament, will face third-seeded Arkansas State in the semifinals on Sunday, March 8 at 2 p.m. The game will be held at the Pensacola Bay Center and broadcast on ESPN+.
Troy enters the matchup with a 24-6 overall record and a 15-3 mark in conference play. This season marks the second time under head coach Chanda Rigby that Troy has entered the tournament as a No. 2 seed and extends their streak to twelve consecutive seasons as a top-four seed. The Trojans are aiming for their fifth SBC Tournament championship and first since 2021.
During regular season play, Troy won nine of its last ten league games, including important victories against Marshall and Arkansas State. The team is also undefeated in neutral-site games this year.
Zay Dyer has played a key role for Troy, becoming the first player in program history to earn three SBC honors: Defensive Player of the Year, All-Sun Belt First Team, and All-Sun Belt Defensive Team. Dyer led the nation with 22 double-doubles this season—14 of which came consecutively—and topped conference statistics in total rebounds (394), rebounds per game (13.1), defensive rebounds per game (8.3), and offensive rebounds per game (4.9). Fortuna Ngnawo and Emani Jenkins also received All-Sun Belt recognition on the second and third teams respectively.
As a team, Troy leads the conference in several categories including assists per game (16.1), rebound margin (+13.3), defensive rebounds (32.2), offensive rebounds (18.5), scoring margin (+13.1), scoring average (82.6 points per game), and win percentage (80%). Nationally, they have led Division I women’s basketball in total rebounds per game for eight straight seasons with an average of 50.7 this year.
Arkansas State advanced to face Troy after defeating ULM earlier in the tournament. Last year, Arkansas State ended Troy’s run with an 81-66 victory in the SBC Tournament semifinals; however, this season Troy has beaten Arkansas State twice during regular season play.
Arkansas State leads the conference in bench points per game (30.8), steals (15.1), three-point attempts (34.9), three-point percentage allowed by opponents (27.7%), made three-pointers per game (10.2), turnover margin (+9.7) and turnovers forced per contest (27.2). Nationally, they rank first in turnovers forced and three-point attempts.
Among individual achievements for Troy players: Emani Jenkins set single-season records at Troy for made three-pointers with 93; Zay Dyer moved up to ninth place on both all-time scoring lists at Troy’s Division I level; Fortuna Ngnawo ranks fifth in SBC scoring with an average of 15.1 points per game.
Coach Chanda Rigby became both the winningest coach in program history this season—with her 275th win—and reached her career milestone of 500 victories after defeating Marshall.
Troy has not been outrebounded by any league opponent this year and holds a plus-15 rebound margin through eighteen conference games.
The winner between Troy and Arkansas State will advance to compete for the Sun Belt Conference title.
