Troy beats FIU 92-62 in WNIT for first postseason win

Ja’Mia Hollings scored a career-high 30 points as Troy routed Florida International in the Women’s NIT on Monday night, recording its first-ever Division 1 postseason victory.

With the win, the Trojans (20-11) advance to the tournament’s ‘Super 16′ and will travel to face North Carolina A&T on Friday night. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. at Corbett Sports Center in Greensboro, N.C.

Troy has now reached the 20-win mark in eight of Chanda Rigby’s 12 seasons as head coach, including five of the last six. Monday’s game drew a crowd of better than 2,000 to Trojan Arena.

“First of all, I want to thank everyone who showed up to Trojan Arena tonight,” Rigby said. “They elevated us to where it was impossible not to give it our all to win. I’m appreciative of our opportunity to compete in the WNIT because these players did not want to end it how we did at the (Sun Belt) tournament. Our players are putting in the extra work to get the job done.”

The 6-foot-2 Hollings — known as “Stixxs” — shot 13-for-19 from the field in a career-best scoring performance. Nia Daniels added 15 points for the Trojans, while Makayia Hallmon has 12 and Tai’Sheka Porchia 10.

“‘Stixxs’ led the way, but our whole team followed the game plan and did amazing tonight,” Rigby said. “We kept the pedal down and made adjustments heading into the second half, and I’m proud of them for that.”

Courtney Prenger led FIU (21-13) with 22 points, while Mya Kone added 13 points and 15 rebounds. Troy limited the Panthers to 26.3% shooting in the second quarter and 18.2 in the third.