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The Troy Trojans (5-6) fell to the Toledo Rockets (6-2) in the first game of the Cherokee Tournament in North Carolina by a score of 70-62 on Wednesday.

Troy struggled to shoot all night, knocking down just 35.7 percent of shot attempts. The Trojans fell behind 21-12 in the first quarterback but came storming back to take the lead 32-29 at halftime. Toledo, however, outscored Troy 41-30 in the second half.

Troy actually dominated the stat sheet for the most part, outscoring Toledo 28-22 in the paint and forcing 11 turnovers with 15 points off turnovers. Troy also outscored Toledo 15-14 in second chance points. The difference, however, was the Rockets domination on the boards, out-rebounding Troy 50-38.

“We’re very disappointed that we didn’t come out with the win tonight. We wanted to be in that winner’s bracket tomorrow. So, now we play the loser of Arkansas/Liberty,” Troy Coach Chanda Rigby said. “A lot of factors went into the loss. I don’t think we gave our best effort at the beginning of the game. But that second quarter, everyone laid their bodies on the line to comeback.

“For some reason, we didn’t do that in the first quarter, and that gave them a mental edge at the end of the game. I can’t fully explain how they out-rebounded us besides effort. I’m still proud of my team for many reasons. We need to mend our broken hearts and finish non-conference play strong tomorrow.”

Shaulana Wagner continued her stellar run of performances with 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, Ashley Baez scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds with three assists.

Sammi Milkonowicz led Toledo with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Khera Gross and Nan Garcia each scored 11 points.

Troy faces Arkansas later today at 6 p.m.