Lady Trojans to play Texas A&M in NCAA Tournament

The Troy Lady Trojans drew the SEC’s Texas A&M Lady Aggies in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as the field was announced on March 15.

Troy (22-5) earned a No. 15 seed in the Mercado Region as the Sun Belt Champions, while Texas A&M (23-2) earned a No. 2 seed after losing in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

Texas A&M, the SEC’s Regular Season Champions, has been considered one of the top teams in the entire country for much of the 2021 season and was the No. 4-ranked team in the country heading into the SEC Tournament. Troy and Texas A&M have never played each other. Troy and Texas A&M will play at 5 p.m. on March 22. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2. 

Troy is coming off a dominating performance in the Sun Belt Tournament and coming out of the tournament the Lady Trojans were rewarded with a number of postseason awards. Head coach Chanda Rigby was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year, while senior Alexus Dye captured Sun Belt Player of the Year and junior Felmas Koranga won Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year. Koranga, Dye, Jasmine Robinson and Tiyah Johnson all earned All-Sun Belt honors, as well.

Dye is the first Lady Trojan to ever win Sun Belt Player of the Year and Rigby is only the second Troy coach in the school’s history to win Sun Belt Coach of the Year.

Dye led the entire country in double-doubles this year totaling an eye-popping 22, which is five more than projected WNBA No. 1-overall draft pick Charli Collier of Texas. Dye averaged 16 points and 13 rebounds as a senior. She leads the entire country in rebounds with 341. Dye averaged 23 points and 15 rebounds per game in the Sun Belt Tournament on her way to winning the Sun Belt Tournament MVP.

Koranga became the first Kenyan-born women’s basketball player to ever play in Division I this season as she debuted with Troy after transferring from Tyler Junior College, and she did not disappoint in her debut season. Koranga averaged 13 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and one block in her first season at Troy. Koranga and Dye were the only two players in the Sun Belt to average a double-double.

Robinson averaged 11 points and five assists in her senior season, while Johnson averaged 13 points and five rebounds as a senior, as well.

Louisiana’s Ty’Reona Doucet was named Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year and Georgia Southern’s Terren Ward earned Sun Belt Freshman of the Year.