The Troy Trojans are back at .500 in conference play, this after the Trojans defeated North Texas 86-79 Wednesday night.

Troy led by 15 late in the first half, but watched its lead dwindle to four at the half.

“It wasn’t a pretty game, but it was an interesting game to say the least,” said head coach Michael Murphy.

“At times, it looked like a fire drill, and at other times it looked like trying to abandon a sinking ship. But, I told our girls we had to persevere, and they did a nice job of that tonight.”

Troy maintained its lead for most of the half before North Texas tied the game at 63 with roughly five minutes left to play.

However, Sarah McAppion made sure Troy was going home victorious. McAppion scored the next nine Troy points, including Troy’s only two made 3-pointers of the game to give Troy a seven-point lead it would not relinquish.

“Our back door cuts weren’t really working for us in the first half, but in the second half, we scored on every basket cut we made,” Murphy said. “Despite turning the ball over 30 times, Troy was still able to shoot 60.4 percent and put 86 points on the scoreboard. “That just goes to show what kind of possessions we were getting when we beat their trap,” Murphy said.

Troy returns to action Saturday on the road against South Alabama.