TROY, Ala. -- The ULM women's basketball team (16-10, 8-6 Sun Belt Conference) led for over 16 minutes of game time, but Troy (15-10, 11-3) pulled away in the final minutes and defended home court with an 81-77 win on Saturday (Feb. 17) inside Trojan Arena in Troy, Ala.
Daisha Bradford led the way with 20 points for ULM while
Sania Wells finished with 18 points and
Jakayla Johnson had 16. Bradford passed a team-high five assists and pulled down six defensive rebounds and tallied one steal. Wells racked up three steals and grabbed six boards. Johnson totaled four rebounds and a pair of assists.
Brianna Harris and
Katlyn Manuel both registered eight points in the game.
With ULM trailing 7-2 early in the first quarter. Wells made two free throws and
Lauren Gross cashed in the Warhawks' first three-pointer of the day that evened the score at 7-7. Bradford sank a pair of jumpers and ULM led 11-7 with 6:40 to go in the first. Bradford dished a pass to Manuel for a layup and
Kyjai Miles drilled a jump shot to give ULM a 20-13 lead. Wells made ULM's third triple of the opening quarter to keep ULM ahead, 25-18. Harris found Bradford open for a jump shot with under a minute to go and ULM led 27-22 at the end of the first. Wells burried her second triple for the first points of the second quarter that gave the Warhawks their biggest lead of the afternoon at 30-22. Troy stormed back and scored eight unanswered and knotted the score at 30-30 midway through the second. The Warhawks reclaimed the lead after a Harris layup and a Bradford triple with 3:31 left in the half. The Trojans concluded the first half on a 6-0 run and led by one point at the break.
Johnson converted two free throws that swung the lead back into ULM's favor, 37-36. Bradford again put ULM back in front with a jump shot at 8:47 to make the score 39-38 Warhawks. With Troy leading 44-41 with 6:22 to go, ULM assembled a 4-0 run that featured a layup by Manuel and a pair of Bradford free throws to put the Warhawks in front. Troy raced out to a seven-point lead with 3:09 left in the third after igniting an 8-0 run. The Warhawks fought back and tied the game at 52-52 after seven consecutive points. Bradford delivered an assist to Harris for a layup to complete the Warhawks' scoring spree. The Trojans jumped back in the lead before the end of the third quarter, 57-54. The Trojans extended the lead to 70-60 with 4:51 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Warhawks would not go away as a Wells three-pointer and a Johnson layup narrowed the deficit to five with 3:40 on the clock. Johnson brought ULM within four points after completing a three-point play with less than one minute remaining. Troy responded with a layup at the 34-second mark to keep the lead at two possessions. Wells knocked down her fourth shot from beyond the arc of the game and ULM trailed by three points with 23 seconds left. Troy hit one of two free throws that pushed its lead to four. Wells was fouled on a loose ball and hit both free throws to bring the Warhawks within two. Troy managed to convert its final two free throw attempts with less than three seconds remaining and put the game out of reach for the Warhawks.
The ULM women's basketball team returns home to start its final homestand of the season when the Warhawks will face Southern Miss on Thursday (Feb. 22) at 5 p.m. inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
