Troy women’s basketball coach Chanda Rigby says the missed call cost 15 historic turnaround for Trojans

Troy coach Chanda Rigby said that a missed call at the end of Monday’s 84-80 loss to second-placed Texas A&M cost the top 15 Trojans a chance at a historic turnaround in the women’s basketball tournament. of the NCAA.

Troy was making his fourth appearance in the tournament and looking for his first victory. A No. 15 seed had never won in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

Texas A&M led 82-80 with 4.5 seconds left and was hitting the ball in the attacking court. Kayla Wells’s pass ricocheted off teammate Destiny Pitts’ fingertips, who then ran after him, gained possession and dribbled to the backcourt. No violations were declared as officials considered that Pitts did not have possession of the ball on the front court.

Instead, Pitts was fouled and hit both free throws with 2 seconds left to give the Aggies the margin of victory.

No Troy player touched the ball in the disputed pass on the pitch. Rigby said he thought it was a violation, which would have given Troy possession.

“It looked like she played and he went to the backcourt. It seemed very evident that it happened,” said Rigby. “We were looking to see if we could fix the connection, but that’s not how it happened. We had all the momentum at that point. If we had received that connection, I don’t think we would have lost the game. I don’t think my players’ will have allowed us to lose. “

Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said he did not watch a replay, but the question was about controlling the ball.

“I didn’t know if we had any control over that,” he said. “I think that’s why [the referee] did not call. But I can’t say for sure. If she had control over that, it was a repeat. If she had no control over it, it was a good decision. “

Even if the call had gone the way of Troy, however, the Trojans would still have to receive the ball and try to score in the final seconds. But Rigby’s frustration also came from two other calls in the final minute that went against the Trojans.

With 54 seconds remaining, Troy’s Tyasia Moore kicked after contact with defender Jordan Nixon, who would have tied the score in 79-79 and sent to the bottom line. Instead, Moore was called on a foul, his fifth. Then, with 30 seconds remaining, Alexus Dye de Troy was scored for his fifth foul when Nixon entered the track.

Altogether, the Trojans were called for 25 fouls to the 13 of the Aggies.

“As big as Texas A&M is a team, seed number 15 has kept them on the ropes for a long time,” said Rigby. “The fact that they buried us right at the bottom of the post hurt us. I knew that if we put them on the free-throw line in the fourth half, it would be difficult to beat them. It seemed that we continued to be called for fault after fault after fault. Our two most experienced players missed it, and that made things more difficult. But we keep fighting. “

Blair said he thinks the turnaround in the second half affected Texas A&M, but they moved on. They will face Iowa State number 7 in the second round on Wednesday.

“They had an open 3 to go ahead and failed,” he said of Troy’s mistake behind the hoop with 19 seconds left. “Sometimes it’s life. But the referees in general, I thought they did a good job. It wasn’t that, it was just a hard ball game.”