Troy University’s women’s basketball team was narrowly defeated by Southern Miss, 98-95, in a Sun Belt Conference matchup at Reed Green Coliseum. The Trojans, now 11-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play, experienced their first loss of the season when scoring more than 70 points.
The game ended with Troy’s Ashley Baez unable to get a final shot off before time expired. All five Troy starters scored in double figures, contributing 85 of the team’s total points. Emani Jenkins and Fortuna Ngnawo led the Trojans with 22 points each. Jenkins also made six three-pointers, while Ngnawo matched her career-high with 17 rebounds. Zay Dyer recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, tying Donette McNair for the most Division-I career rebounds at Troy with 767.
Southern Miss improved to a 10-5 record (3-1 SBC) and took a lead in the all-time series against Troy at four wins to three. Jakayla Johnson led Southern Miss with 30 points on eleven field goals and four three-pointers. Like Troy, all five Lady Eagles starters finished with double-digit points as the team shot over fifty percent from the field and made eleven threes.
Despite trailing by ten early in the fourth quarter, Troy mounted a comeback that tied the game at eighty-four after Ngnawo’s jumper assisted by Jenkins. Southern Miss regained control late but faced pressure as Jenkins cut their lead to two with less than forty seconds remaining. In the final seconds, Baez received an inbound pass but could not attempt a shot before time expired.
Troy started strong in the first quarter behind Rachel Leggett’s seven early points but saw Southern Miss take control midway through the half. The teams traded leads several times before Southern Miss entered halftime ahead by three.
After the game, Head Coach Chanda Rigby said: “We’re here in Hattiesburg and Southern Miss truly is one of the most talented teams in our conference. We just came up short. When you put up 95 points and don’t win, you know you have some stuff to clean up. But we showed improvement in the fact that during the down moments, our team stayed positive. They battled through those times and that’s why we were able to make the comeback. The dribble-drive is the place we need to work on, immediately reflecting on this game. I’m looking forward to watching the film and diving into this game. Because when you have a game like this, where you play a team at its best, you can teach a team the razor thin line between wins and losses.”
Statistically notable performances included Ngnawo’s fifth double-double in seven games—she had eleven offensive rebounds—and Dyer extending her Sun Belt Conference lead for most double-doubles this season.
Troy will return home for their next contest against Texas State on Wednesday, January 7.
