Warhawks fall for Trojan Horse
February 19, 2017
The ULM women’s basketball team lost Thursday’s home conference game to Troy by a final score of 94-67. The Trojans had a eld day from behind the arc, knocking down 11 3-pointers.
Troy forced 27 turnovers with their full court press, making it hard for the Warhawks to generate any kind of offense throughout the game.
“They’re a good team. They’re explosive. Troy continued to press for 40 minutes whether they’re up 25-30 points,” said head coach Je Dow. “That’s part of it, but we had such a slow start.”
Despite the press, however, two of ULM’s players were able to put points on the board, as Alex Collins finished the game with 18 points. Meanwhile, Andreanna Jackson had a great game as she scored 19 points and went 11-11 from the free throw line.
The game got o to a fast start as the teams raced up and down the court. e Warhawks started to get some easy baskets as point guard Collins began to take over. They began to break Troy’s full court press momentarily and scored some uncontested baskets. At the end of the first quarter, Troy lead 19-15.
Troy got off to a fast start in the second quarter, but the Warhawks managed to keep up with their high-octane offense. e Warhawks were down by six with about four minutes left in the second quarter.
Troy began their full court press once again as they were trying to smother the Warhawks, making it difficult to score. Troy began to find their groove on offense, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers and stretching their lead to 15.
The Warhawks cut the lead to 10, but Troy made some tough baskets and stretched their lead to 14 heading into halftime by a score of 43-29.
In the second half, ULM’s defense couldn’t handle the offensive display of Troy as they stretched their lead to 19 with about eight minutes to go in the third quarter.
The Warhawks were looking to regroup and try to connect on easy baskets like they did in the first quarter, but Troy began to make shots from the outside as they hit three 3-pointers to open up the second half.
The Warhawks couldn’t buy a bucket as Troy led 60-31 with about six minutes left to go in the third quarter. The Warhawks started to find their groove as they cut into the Trojans’ lead. By the end of the third quarter, the lead was cut to 26.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Warhawks were looking to build o of a late push, but Troy’s defensive plan was still disrupting the Warhawks’ offense. Troy continued to press for the rest of the game, causing numerous turnovers.
After the game, coach Dow talked about how this game had similarities to last year’s game, besides the outcome. “ e game was not out of reach in the second half. It was a similar score last year, and we rallied to win the game,” he said. “We’ve seen that act too many times, down at the half and then the lead grows. We were leading the points off of turnovers ratio at the half.”
The ULM women’s basketball team will hit the court again on Saturday, Feb. 18 at home against Sun Belt conference rival ULL.
The game is slated to start at noon, and they hope to see you there to cheer them on against the Cajuns.
