It was a difficult night on the court for the Troy women’s basketball team Thursday.

In the second annual WBCA Think Pink game, the Trojans played host to Sun Belt rivals, Middle Tennessee.

And before the game could get give minutes deep, the Blue Raiders had already established a dominating lead en route to a 80-61 victory.

“I’m really pleased with my girl’s effort,” head coach Michael Murphy said. “I thought for the most part, we played hard.

“I thought we got some good play out from a lot of our younger girls, and to have Sophie Kleeman play 40 minutes against a good team like Middle Tennessee says a lot about what kind of player she is.”

While Troy feel behind by double-digits early on, the Trojans were able to cut the lead down to within striking distance.

It was not until seven minutes left to play in the first half that MTSU again went up by double-digits, this time taking control of the game for good.

In the final seven minutes of the half, the Blue Raiders outscored the Trojans 18-8, to take a 45-26 lead.

In the second half, MTSU continued its offensive assault, taking a 28-point lead at one point in the second half.

As for the Trojan offense, the home team could get nothing going all game long.

Troy shot 44 percent from the floor, and just 8 percent from the 3-point line, hitting just one of its 12 shots.

“I thought we had a lot of good looks, especially early on,” Murphy said. “We just couldn’t hit any of them.

“Against a team like Middle Tennessee, you have to hit all your shots if you want to be in the game. We played hard all the way through – we just fell behind early on.”