Sun Belt Women's Basketball Tournament: Controversial non-call spoils Troy/Old Dominion finish

Troy’s chances of returning to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament fizzled following a controversial non-call at the end of its Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinal game against Old Dominion.

Clinging to an 84-83 lead with 4.7 seconds remaining, the Monarchs inbounded the ball with six players on the floor. With the additional player, Old Dominion extended its cushion as Amari Young caught a pass on the perimeter and broke free for an wide-open layup.

If the violation was called, a technical foul would’ve been the penalty, awarding the Trojans two free throws and the ball. However, since the officials did not recognize the violation before leaving the court and the play cannot be challenged with a replay review, Young’s basket stood.

The Monarchs emerged with a 86-83 victory from the Pensacola Bay Center.

“We covered everybody perfectly that we could, but there was one person wide open because there was an extra person out there,” said Trojans head coach Chanda Rigby, who formerly coached at Pensacola State College. “Strange things happen in basketball and officiating.

“I don’t want it to look bad on this tournament, but I do want to fight for these girls. I do want everybody to know what happened … It’s very hard for me to go in and explain that to them. I want them to leave with a great impression of this tournament, of being a Troy Trojan, and it’s hard to find the words when that happened.”

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With 2.1 seconds left, the Trojans had a chance to send the game into overtime, but Jada Walton’s game-tying 3-pointer was blocked by Young.

"When I saw (Walton) open, I got long arms, so I just extended my arms and prayed," Young said. "I really was just trying to contest it, but it just happened to be a block. So it turned out in my favor."

The Sun Belt Conference acknowledged the mistake in a statement released nearly three hours after the game concluded. As a penalty, the officiating crew involved in the non-call will not receive another assignment for the remainder of the tournament.

“I apologize to head coach Chanda Rigby, the Troy women’s basketball student-athletes and the Troy community for the manner in which the end of the game was officiated,” Sun Belt Conference commissioner Keith Gill. “No one wants a game to end this way—especially during the postseason.”

Old Dominion, the tournament’s No. 5 seed, led by as much as 67-49 late in the third quarter before No. 4 Troy nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback. The Trojans dominated the fourth quarter after scoring 17 points off 10 Monarch turnovers while not coughing up the ball once.

The Trojans had a chance to take the lead with six seconds left, but a go-ahead jump shot from Makayia Hallmon was off the mark.

Young led Old Dominion with a game-high 29 points on 13-for-21 shooting from the field. She also added team-bests of nine rebounds and two blocks. Makayla Dickens chipped in 14 points.

Making 12 of 24 field-goal attempts, Hallmon led Troy with 26 points. Walton added 10 points while Navarre native Amber Leggett scored 10 of her 12 points in the fourth.

Former PSC forward Tai’Sheka Porchia contributed nine points for the Trojans, who ended the season with a 17-13 record.

The Monarchs (22-11) play top-seeded James Madison at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. The Dukes advanced with a 61-43 triumph over No. 8 Marshall.

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (850) 503-3828, on Twitter @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com. 

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Sun Belt Women: Old Dominion holds off Troy following blown late non-call