The Troy Trojans women's basketball program is the intercollegiate women's basketball of Troy University. The program is classified in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's Division I and the team competes in the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

. The head coach of the Trojans is Chanda Rigby, who is in her 12th season at Troy. During her first 11 seasons as head coach at Troy, the Trojans have made three NCAA Tournament appearances, one WBI Tournament appearance, two WNIT appearances, and have won three Sun Belt Tournament titles. The team plays home games in Trojan Arena, which was built in 2012 and replaced the old arena known as Sartain Hall.

History

Joyce Sorrell era

Troy's first season was in 1975 under then head coach Joyce Sorrell. Before Sorrell started the basketball program, Troy had no women's sports. Sorrell is considered the "mother of women's athletics" at Troy University. Sorrell maintained consistent winning records for her women's basketball teams. In 1978, she helped guide Troy to an upset win over

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, 80–63. The next season (1978–79), Sorrell scored an upset win over in-state opponent Auburn by a score of 76–70, and a few games later defeated

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, 85–80. The Lady Trojans would finish that season with a 21–9 record. For the 1979–80 season, Sorrell once again led her team to more big wins, defeating

and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in consecutive days. The Lady Trojans fell short in the state AIAW Tournament, but finished with a 19–11 record. Sorrell's 1980–81 team won an Alabama

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

State Championship and posted an 18–16 overall record on the season. Sorrell coached Troy's first ever All-American in Denise Monroe during this time, from 1977 to 1981. Joyce Sorrell led the women's basketball program through seven years (1975 until 1982) as a member of the

Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

(AIAW) before the

began sponsoring championships in women's athletics in 1982. She then helped the program transfer from NCAA Division II to Division I in 1993–94 before retiring from coaching in 1995. She also coached nine 1,000-point scorers and 17 all-conference selections while coaching the Trojans through four different conferences, plus two seasons as an NCAA Division II independent.

Jerry Hester era

Upon taking over the head coaching position on an interim basis after Joyce Sorrell retired, Jerry Hester was hired as the full-time head coach. In 1997, his second season as head coach, he guided the Lady Trojans to their first Division I conference championship, winning the Mid-Continent Conference tournament and receiving their first-ever berth to the NCAA Tournament. Troy lost that year in the First Round of the tournament to #12 Virginia, finishing with a 23–7 overall record. Hester earned the Mid-Con's Coach of the Year honor that same year. The following season (1997–98), Hester started out the year with a 72–69 win at home against

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

, but wasn't able to sustain the momentum throughout the season, finishing with just a 13–14 overall record. After struggling to find the same success he had in his first couple of seasons as head coach, Hester resigned from his position in 2002.

Michael Murphy era

In 2002, Michael Murphy was hired as the third women's basketball head coach at Troy. Murphy had previously been an assistant for the

men's and women's basketball teams between 1997 and 2002. Murphy steadily improved the Trojans as the school transitioned from the

Atlantic Sun Conference The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Division I FCS level in 2022. ...

to the

beginning in the 2005–06 season. Murphy was never able to take Troy back to the success they had seen under Joyce Sorrell though, as he never garnered any championships and had only two winning seasons. In Murphy's last two seasons as head coach, Troy had accumulated a record of 7–51 in two seasons, which led Troy to fire Murphy in 2012. Murphy finished with a 110–179 overall record.

Chanda Rigby era

Chanda Rigby was hired in 2002 after previously being the long-time head coach for Pensacola State College, where she won a state championship and took them to the

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

Final Four in each of her last two seasons. She led the Pirates to a combined 64–6 record over her last two seasons at the school. Upon Rigby coming to Troy, she immediately converted Troy to a fast-pace philosophy basketball team, which is what led to her success at the NJCAA level. Troy quickly became known for its high-scoring offense and up-tempo playing style over the next couple of years. In the 2014–15 season, in just her third season at the helm, Rigby led Troy to their first 20-win season in 18 years, finishing with a 20–11 record and a berth into the WBI Tournament. Troy would wind up losing in the First Round of the tournament to Mercer, 68–83. For the next season, Rigby led Troy to their second-straight 20-win season, finishing the 2015–16 season with a 20–13 record and a

tournament championship. This marked the first time Troy had consecutive seasons with 20 wins or more. The Trojans would receive a berth into the NCAA tournament as a #15-seed, only to lose to #2 Oregon State, 31–73. Rigby followed up her successes with yet another 20-win season in 2016–17, this time finishing with a 22–11 record. Troy would garner consecutive wins against Villanova and Loyola-Chicago in the San Juan Shootout during the first half of the season. Troy finished 3rd-place in the Sun Belt standings, garnering a #3-seed for the Sun Belt Tournament. After defeating Arkansas State, UT-Arlington, and

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

in consecutive games, Troy won their second-straight

tournament championship. Troy received their second berth in as many years to the NCAA tournament, losing in the First Round #2

. Troy would make their way back into the postseason once again during the 2018–19 season, making their first-ever appearance in the WNIT. Troy finished the season with a 22–9 overall record, which included a 71–54 win over Ole Miss during the season. In Rigby's best season at Troy to date, the 2019–20 Trojans cruised through Sun Belt play with a 16–2 conference record and was crowned regular season Sun Belt Champions, earning the #1-seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. On March 12, 2020, the Sun Belt Conference cancelled their conference tournament due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic, leading to Troy being awarded the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament due to them being the regular season champion. Shortly thereafter on the same day, the NCAA cancelled the NCAA Tournament, and all other conferences cancelled their tournaments as well. The Trojans ultimately finished the season with a 25–4 overall record, the best in school history. Following the historic 2019–20 season, Troy was able to once again capture the Sun Belt title during the 2020–21 season, this time by winning the Sun Belt Conference tournament. Troy would defeat

in the finals of the tournament by a score of 73–65. After receiving the #15 seed to the NCAA Tournament, the team would face the #2-seed

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

in the first round, losing in the last seconds on what was a controversial missed call by the officials. The final score would be 84–80, in favor of the Aggies. In Troy's 2021–22 season, the Trojans scored an upset over

by a score of 73–66.

Coaches

*''Records updated as of 3/28/2025.''

All-Americans

* Ashley Beverly-Kelley – CollegeSportsMadness.com Mid-Major All-American Third Team (2015) * Donette McNair - National Strength and Conditioning Association (NCSA) All-American (2011) * Denise Monroe –

All-American Second Team (1981)

Award Winners/Finalists

* World Exposure Assistant Coach of the Year :Neil Harrow – 2020 * Nancy Lieberman Award :Joanna Harden – 2014 (Finalist) * NSCA All-American Athlete of the Year Award :Donette McNair – 2011

Postseason Results

NCAA tournament results

WNIT Tournament Results

WBI Tournament results

AIAW Regional Tournament Results

Championships/Titles

*1981 – Alabama

State Champions *1994 -

East Coast Conference The East Coast Conference (ECC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located primarily in the state of New York, with a single ...

Regular Season Champions *1997 – Mid-Continent Conference Regular Season Champions *1997 – Mid-Continent Conference Tournament Champions *2016 –

Tournament Champions *2017 –

Tournament Champions *2020 –

Regular Season Champions *2021 –

East Division Champions *2021 –

Tournament Champions *2022 –

Regular Season Champions

Yearly Results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Troy Trojans Women's Basketball