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Mechelle VoepelESPN.com
Troy coach Chanda Rigby said a missed call late in Monday’s 84-80 loss to No. 2 seed Texas A&M cost the No. 15 seed Trojans a chance at a historic glitch in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
Troy made his fourth tournament appearance and was looking for his first win. A No. 15 seed had never won in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
Texas A&M led 82-80 with 4.5 seconds to go and the ball entered the forecourt. Kayla Wells ‘pass bounced off teammate Destiny Pitts’ fingertips, who then chased, gained possession and dribbled in the backcourt. An over-and-back violation was not called as the referees ruled that Pitts had no possession of the ball in the frontcourt.
Instead, Pitts got fouled and hit both free throws with 2 more seconds to give the Aggies the winning margin.
No Troy player touched the ball on the contested pass. Rigby said she thought it was a violation that would have owned Troy.
“It looked like she was touching it and it went into the backcourt. It just looked very clear that was happening,” said Rigby. “We were looking to correct the call, but that’s just not the way it went. We had all the momentum at the time. “I don’t think the will of my players would have let us lose.”
Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said he hadn’t seen a replay, but the problem was with control of the ball.
“I didn’t know if we could control it,” he said. “I think that’s the reason [the referee] did not mention it. But I cannot say for sure. If she had control over it, it was an over-and-back. If she couldn’t control it, it was a good call. ‘
Even if the call had gone from Troy, the Trojans should still have come in and try to score in the final seconds. But Rigby’s frustration also came from two other last-minute calls against the Trojans.
With 54 seconds to go, Tyasia Moore of Troy made a shot on contact with defender Jordan Nixon, who would have tied the score at 79-79 and sent her to the line. Instead, Moore got a foul, her fifth. Then, with 30 seconds to go, Troy’s Alexus Dye got called for her fifth foul when Nixon hit the track.
In total, the Trojans were called up for 25 fouls on the Aggies ’13.
“As great as a team like Texas A&M is, the number 15 seed had them on the strings for a long time,” said Rigby. “They buried us deep in the post hurt us. I knew if we put them on the free throw line in the fourth quarter, it would be hard to beat them., After foul. Our two most experienced players got an error , and that made it difficult. But we kept fighting. “
Blair said he thought second-half sales took a toll on Texas A&M, but they still went further. They will face No. 7 seed Iowa State on Wednesday in the second round.
“They had an open 3 to go through and they didn’t make it,” he said of Troy from behind the arch with 19 seconds to go. ‘That’s life sometimes. But the officials in general, I thought they had done quite well. It wasn’t, it was just a hard-nosed competition. ‘