After opening their season 4-0, with all of the games on the road, the Lady Tigers were looking to bring some of that magic back home in a rematch against the Harris County Lady Tigers Friday night.
In a heated game, Troup built an early 10-point lead and never gave up the lead on the way to a 49-31 victory.
Troup also beat Harris County 52-45 on Tuesday, in Hamilton.
“We were really excited to have some support,” Troup head coach Carla Winston said. “It is always good to have people cheering for you, rather than against you. The girls were a little nervous at first.
“I caught a few of them glancing into the stands, and we had to correct some of those problems, but hopefully we can have a crowd like this as the season goes on, and hopefully we can give them something to cheer about.”
The Lady Tigers were able to build a 12-point lead going into the second quarter, but Harris County clawed back into it and was down by three with seconds left in the half.
With time winding down, point guard Tanisha Jackson took an inbound pass, dribbled down the court and nailed a 3-pointer as time expired to give Troup a 20-13 lead, and some much needed momentum going into the half.
“At the beginning of the game I was a little disappointed,” Winston said. “Toward the middle of the game they really started to listen to what we were telling them. We finally started to play a more physical game.”
In the second half, it was all Troup.
Led by senior guard Ashley Thornton, who scored all 18 of her points in the second half, the Lady Tigers built an 18-point lead over the next two quarters to shut the door on Harris County.
Most of Thornton’s points came off of fast-break attempts after her teammates crashed the boards and collected rebounds.
“She is the one person on our team who is always looking for the fast break,” Winston said. “She loves to score, we have to push her a little on defense, but on offense she moves the floor really well for us.”
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