PENSACOLA, Fla. — The postseason conference tournament is a place for stars to shine and the duo of Kennedy Taylor and Ja'Kayla Bowie did just that as the two combined for 51 points, but it wasn't enough as the fourth-seeded Bobcats fell to the top-seeded Troy Trojans, 103-90, in overtime in the quarterfinals of the 2020-21 Sun Belt Conference Tournament. 

Taylor scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting in 44 minutes of game action, while Bowie, one day after scoring a then-career-high 19 points, went for a career-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting 

"Everything is still so fresh: the excitement of being able to play in a championship setting and playing the top seed and battling them all the way into overtime," said Texas State women's basketball head coach Zenarae Antoine. "Then there's the emotional letdown everyone has when the buzzer goes and you end up on the other side. It's still pretty fresh for me, but I can tell you there's another level of excitement when it comes to our future." 

Troy (20-5, 15-2) flashed its dominance and the reason the Trojans were the No. 1 seed out of the East Division throughout the first half en route to a 48-31 halftime lead. 

Then everything changed as Kennedy Taylor's 3-point basket eight seconds into the third quarter were a sign of things to come for not only the junior point guard but also the Bobcat offense as a whole. 

After entering the third quarter with a 17-point deficit, the Bobcats cut it to 10 on a second-chance layup from freshman Nicole Leff, who scored a career-high 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in a career-high 26 minutes of game action, with 6:29 left to play in the third quarter. Lauryn Thompson, who finished with 13 points, made it a nine-point came with a layup with 84 seconds remaining in the period. 

Thompson cut the deficit, again, a minute later when another layup made it a 6-point game. 

Following two free throws to give Troy an eight-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter, Bowie converted a steal into two points on the other end to make it 67-61 with 8:45 left to play. 

The Trojans responded by extended their lead back to double-digits at 73-62 with 6:15 left to play. Tyasia Moore, following another Leff layup, gave Troy an 11-point lead, again, with 4:51 remaining in the game.

The Texas State offense flipped a switch and went on an 14-5 scoring run to tie the game at 80 following six straight points on a Leff layup, Thompson layup and Taylor jumper, respectively.

Taylor gave the Bobcats their first lead when she hit a free throw with 1:26 left in regulation. 

Troy's Jasmine Robinson made two free throws with 1:12 left to push the Trojans ahead by one, until Taylor split a pair of free throws to re-tie the game at 82 with 61 seconds left. 

On the following possession, senior Avionne Alexander forced a Robinson turnover to give the Bobcats a potential go-ahead opportunity. However, Bowie's 3-point attempt with 26 seconds rimmed out and into the outstretched arms of Felmas Koranga with 22 seconds left. 

Despite calling two timeouts during the final eight seconds of regulation, the Trojans failed to get off a shot attempt. 

Dye pushed the Trojans ahead with a second-chance jumper 18 seconds into the extra period, before Tiyah Johnson gave Troy a 5-point lead. She extended the lead to seven with a 4-point play two minutes later, then Robinson extended it to 10 moments later. Dye capped the overtime period with a pair of free throws to seal the final score.