USC
Milwaukee
Women of Troy Post First Win on the Season
November 16, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2008
RALEIGH, N.C.-The Women of Troy beat the Milwaukee Panthers 77-65 in the consolation round of the Wolfpack Invitational at NC State's Reynolds Coliseum on Sunday (Nov. 16). This brings USC's overall record to 1-1 on the road trip and for the season. Milwaukee fell to 0-2 on the season.
USC played this weekend without two key players, all-Pac 10 second team center Nadia Parker and guard Hailey Dunham, out indefinitely with injuries.
The Women of Troy started off the game slow, getting into a 7-3 hole, in part to Milwaukee senior forward Traci Edwards, who had 5 of their first 7 points. USC soon came roaring back with senior guard Camille LeNoir got a steal and then was fouled at the other end to hit two free throws at the 16:24 mark to bring USC within two. freshman guard Briana Gilbreath tied it up 7-7 at 16:09 with her first two points of the night. The Women of Troy went ahead 9-7 with a jump shot from junior forward Aarika Hughes . At the 13:37 mark Milwaukee went ahead by 3 with a two-point basket from Edwards. The Women of Troy fought back from that point on and got the go-ahead basket with a three-pointer from junior guard Oliver, to make the score 14-12. USC would never look back and although the Panthers would sustain a few runs, the Women of Troy would not relinquish the lead again. USC's lead would swell to 7, 19-12 with a layup from Gilbreath and a 3-pointer from senior guard Brynn Cameron at the 10:42 mark. Milwaukee made a run to cut the lead to two, 21-19 with a three-pointer from sophomore forward Lindsay Laur with 8:30 left in the half. The Women of Troy would answer with a layup from Gilbreath, two more points from Hughes and another basket by Gilbreath for a 6-0 run to bring the lead back to eight with 6:19 to go in the half. The Panthers again surged at the end of the half to cut the lead to two with 1:11 left thanks to three-pointers by Laur and Edwards. A basket by freshman forward Michelle Jenkins with 23 seconds left would cap the score at 38-34 going into halftime. At the break, USC was led in scoring by LeNoir with 9 and in the rebounding category by Hughes, who pulled down 9.
USC came out strong in the second half, bringing the lead back to eight with a layup by Gilbreath and two free throws by LeNoir at the 16:52 mark. With 14:07 in the half, a three by Cameron brought the lead to 11, 36-47. For about four minutes from 13:22 to 9:16 the Women of Troy and the Panthers traded baskets, with USC's lead hovering around 9 points. A layup from Oliver at 8:48 ballooned the lead to 13, 62-49. A three by Milwaukee's sophomore guard Jineen Williams cut the lead to 10 at 7:51, but the Women of Troy would answer with a 6-1 run, thanks in part to a quick outlet pass by LeNoir to sophomore center Kari LaPlante with 6:40 left on the clock to bring the lead to 15; the largest USC would post today. Milwaukee would bring the lead down to 10 with 4:29 left, but that is as close as they would come. Free throws made down the stretch by LeNoir, a 10-ft jumper from LePlante at the 1:06 mark and two free throws by freshman guard Ashley Corral with 36 seconds left solidified the 77-66 win for the Women of Troy.
USC was led by LeNoir for the second straight game with 15 points and 3 assists. Tonight's 15 points for LeNoir combined with her 13 on Saturday against Charlotte puts her at 1,007 points for her career.
Hughes finished with 13 rebounds. The Panthers were led by Edwards with 20 points and 7 rebounds.
The Women of Troy had help from three true freshmen playing their first collegiate games this weekend; guards Corral and Gilbreath and forward Jenkins. All three players logged significant minutes in the two-game tournament. Gilbreath started both games and finished up today with 14 points and 7 rebounds.
Junior forward Aarika Hughes was named to the Wolfpack Invitational all-tournament team by the head coaches of Charlotte, Milwaukee and NC State. Joining Hughes were senior guard Traci Ray (Charlotte), senior center Danielle Burgin (Charlotte), forward Traci Edwards (Milwaukee), junior guard Nikitta Gartrell (NC State) and tournament MVP, senior guard Shayla Fields (NC State).
USC will head home back to Southern California to face Coach Trakh's former program, Pepperdine at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 24 in Malibu, Calif.
USC 77, Milwaukee, 65
USC-38 - Milwaukee-34
USC-39 - Milwaukee- 31
