Troy women’s basketball coach Chanda Rigby claims the missed call cost the Trojans No. 15 historic upset

Troy coach Chanda Rigby said a loss in Monday’s 84-80 loss to No. 2 seed Texas A&M cost the No. 15 headliners a historic shot in the women’s tournament. NCAA basketball.

Troy made his fourth appearance in the tournament and was looking for his first win. A No. 15 seed had never won the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Texas A&M led 82-80 with 4.5 seconds left and entered the ball on the front court. A pass to the side pulled the defense out of position which let slip through on goal. No over-the-back infractions were called, as officials considered Pitts to have no possession on the front court.

Instead, Pitts received a free kick and hit both free throws with 2 seconds left to give the Aggies the winning margin.

No Troy player touched the ball in the controversial pass. Rigby said he believed it was a rape, that he would have given possession to Troy.

“It just looked like he touched her and went out into the backyard. It seems very obvious that this happened,” Rigby said. “We saw if we could correct the call, but it wasn’t like that. We had all the momentum at the time. If we had gotten that call, I don’t think there’s any way we’d have lost the game. I don’t think the will of my players would have allowed us to lose. “

Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said he had not seen any replays, but the problem was over ball control.

“I didn’t know if we had control of it,” he said. “I think that’s why [the referee] I didn’t call her. But I can’t say for sure. If she was in control, it was an envelope and back. If I wasn’t in control, it was a good call. “

Even though the call would have followed Troy’s path, the Trojans would still have had to get the ball in and try to score in the final seconds. But Rigby’s frustration also arose from two more calls in the last minute that came out against the Trojans.

With 54 seconds left, Troy’s Tyasia Moore made a shot after contacting defender Jordan Nixon, who tied the score at 79-79 and sent it off the line. Instead, Moore was called up for a foul, his fifth. Then, with 30 seconds left, Alexy Dye of Troy was called up for his fifth foul while Nixon was in the lane.

In all, the Trojans were called up for 25 fouls on 13 of the Aggies.

“As big of a team as Texas A&M is, the No. 15 seed had them on the ropes for a long time,” Rigby said. “The fact that they buried us deep in the post hurt us. I knew that if we put them on the free throw line in the fourth quarter, it would be hard to beat them. It seemed like they kept calling us for foul, after foul, after foul “Our two more experienced players committed a foul, and that made it difficult. But we kept fighting.”

Blair said he thought second-half turnovers affected Texas A&M, but they still continued. They will face Iowa State No. 7 in the second round on Wednesday.

“They had an open 3 to move on, and they didn’t get it,” he said of Troy’s foul behind the arc with 19 seconds left. “That’s life sometimes. But officers in general, I thought they were doing a pretty good job. It wasn’t that, it was just a hard-nosed ball game.”