Troy women’s basketball opens the season with a road win

Published 7:08 pm Monday, November 7, 2022

The Troy Trojans women’s basketball team (1-0) opened the 2022-2023 season with a road win against the Samford Bulldogs (0-1) on Monday and picked up a hard-fought 66-62 win.

Troy and Samford battled back-and-forth for the entirety of the game but with the game tied 52-52, with under five minutes left, Alabama transfer Nia Daniel put Troy ahead 54-52. Tai’Sheka Porchia extended the lead to 56-52 with a steal and layup with 3:06 left, as well.

Samford responded with a three-pointer with 2:55 left, though, to cut the Troy lead to 56-55. The Bulldogs then took the lead 57-56 on a put-back layup from Sussy Ngulefac with 1:46 left but Troy’s Makayia Hallmon answered right back with a jumper to give the Trojans a 58-57 lead.

Ngulefac hit another layup to put Samford up 59-58 with just 35 seconds left. Troy’s Felmas Koranga then grabbed a rebound for the Trojans with 17 seconds left and was fouled going back up. Koranga knocked down both free throws to put Troy back on top 60-59.

After forcing a Samford turnover, Troy’s Sharonica Hartsfield hit three free throws to extend the Trojan lead to 63-59 lead with just eight seconds left. Porchia extended the lead to 64-59 with another free throw with just eight seconds left.

Samford made things interesting when Alyssa Tarpley knocked down a three with just three seconds left to cut Troy’s lead to 64-62. The Bulldogs were forced to foul immediately to conserve time but Hallmon knocked down both free throws and secured the 65-62 Trojan win.

Hallmon led the Trojans in her Troy debut with 15 points and five rebounds, while Koranga tallied eight points and 14 rebounds. Porchia also had nine points and nine rebounds, while Hartsfield had four points and four assists.

Andrea Cournoyer led Samford with 25 points and nine rebounds and Ngulefac had 13 points and eight rebounds. The Trojans forced 25 turnovers and outrebounded the Bulldogs 66-40 in the win.

Troy is back on the road this Thursday, Nov. 10, at UT-Martin. The game will stream on ESPN+ at 6 p.m.