Box Score
Troy 11 – 11 – 10 – 5 = 37
Brea 6 – 11 – 13 – 12 = 42
Troy opened up a 9-2 first quarter lead last night, and Brea didn’t get their second basket until the last minute of the quarter. Both teams exchanged baskets in the second, with Troy keeping their five-point lead going into the break.
The third quarter saw more basket exchanging, and Brea took their second lead of the game (the first was at 2-1) with a 30-29 lead, only to have Troy hit a three-pointer in the last seconds to lead 32-30 after three periods.
The game was tied at 34-34 in the fourth quarter when Kelsey Harris scored for Brea to make it 36-34. With 1:16 left, the Ladycats caught Troy napping off a timeout, and Alexis Perry caught a bomb pass for an easy basket to make it 38-34. The next time Brea inbounded under their basket, after a Troy turnover, Brea threw a long pass to Keitra Wallace, who also scored on an easy layup to make it 40-34. Some free throws for Troy made it 40-37. Brea almost got caught with a five-second count on the inbound play, but Alex Sanchez of Troy knocked the ball out of Harris’ hand before she inbounded, which was a technical foul. Two made free throws for Harris with a second remaining made the final 42-37.
There was not much inbound pressing by either team. Troy seemed to use a lot of the 30-second clock to get off shots, partly due to Brea’s good defense. Jeanier Olukemi was dressed but never got in the game for the Ladycats. I did not see Justine Hartman on the Brea sidelines. The gym was crowded, as Troy had a lot of support from the student body, and Brea had its usual big crowd. Brea Coach Jeff Sink got in the face of two girls after pulling them for mistakes. Perry and Wallace were the stars for Brea and I thought Johnson was Troy’s best player.
– IM in OC