Box Score TROY, Ala.- Despite 23 points from redshirt-junior Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) and outscoring its opponent in the fourth quarter, the Belmont University women's basketball team (1-2) suffered a 91-74 setback Wednesday evening at Troy (1-1) in front of 876 fans at Trojan Arena.
The Bruins would trail by as many as 29 points but managed to cut the Troy lead to just 11 with just 1:43 to play, only to see the Trojans pull away with a late run.
Smith, who scored 20 points in the second half, has now scored in double-digits in all three games this season. Joining Smith in double figures with 11 was Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.), who also dished out a game-high seven assists.
After shooting just 24.3% (9-27) from the field in the first half the Bruins got back into the game in the second half by shooting 47.1% (16-34).
Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) finished with nine points and a game-high nine boards while Belmont substitutes Maddie Wright (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Maura Muensterman (Evansville, Ind.) contributed nine and eight points, respectively.
The Trojans finished the game shooting 46.9% (38-81) from the field while the Bruins finished 25-71 shooting at a 35.2% clip. Troy featured three double-digit scorers as Jayla Chills scored 21 and provided five assists to lead the Trojans in both categories.
Wednesday afternoon's matchup featured a pair of NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago as both the Bruins and Trojans punched their ticket via a conference tournament victory in 2016. In addition both teams were selected as the preseason favorite in their respective leagues.
Out of the gate Belmont got off to a hot start, knocking down six of its first nine attempts and its 6-0 run midway through the first quarter forced the Trojans to take an early timeout. After Belmont led 14-9, Troy returned with a 6-0 run of its own out of the timeout and closed the quarter by holding the Bruins scoreless for the final five minutes. With the first quarter in the books, Troy led 15-14. McCabe was a force early on for the Bruins, pouring in six points in the first 10 minutes.
The Trojan run would extend into the second period when they scored the first five points, extending their scoring run to 11-0. A Lauren Thompson (Franklin, Tenn.) jumper snapped the Trojan run early in the second and gave Belmont its first points scored since the 5:23 mark in the opening quarter, making the score 20-16. In the second quarter the Bruins connected on just 3-of-20 field goals attempts, scoring nine points. After knocking down six shots in the first five minutes of the game, Belmont finished with just nine first half field goals. Despite a rocky shooting stretch, the Bruins trailed just 30-23 at the half.
After a sluggish first half from both teams, Troy would take control in the third quarter by outscoring the Bruins, 35-16. Troy knocked down 13-of-22 attempts in the stanza, shooting 59.1% from the floor and 4-of-5 from three-point land. The Trojans scored the first six points of the quarter to build a double-digit lead and from this point forward would not allow the Bruins to draw the score within 10 points. Troy led by as many 26 as in the third quarter.
Belmont would make things interesting in the fourth quarter as Smith was scorching hot, knocking down 6-of-7 field goals including two from behind the arc. The Vanderbilt transfer netted 17 points to go with two steals as she spearheaded the late comeback. Maggard and Wright each added eight as Belmont outscored the Trojans 35-26 in the final period of play. A late 17-2 run allowed Belmont to narrow the deficit to as low as 11 points, but the spirited rally late would come up short.
The Bruins resume action on Saturday, Nov. 19 when they return to the state of Alabama to take on UAB for a 2 p.m. Central time showdown in Birmingham.
