But after suffering an ankle injury that hampered her ability to play the game the way she is accustomed to, Benjamin, who tweaked her ankle a couple of times in the game, showed Troy just how dominant she can be.

Benjamin, who finished the game with a team-high 18 points, 14 rebounds and three steals, proved to be too much for the Troy Trojans as the Ragin’ Cajuns won its second consecutive game 63-59 at Earl K. Long Gym.

"It feels good to get back-to-back wins," Benjamin said. "At the beginning of the season we were used to winning and then we had the bump in the road.

"But it’s great to get those two wins, because it shows other teams in the conference that they can’t sleep on us."

Benjamin came within two points and three rebounds of setting career-highs in those categories, while also playing stifling defense that saw her take a couple of charges in key situations on the night.

"Ashley did a great job of rebounding and playing defense," Ragin’ Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "We had a lot of second chance points in the game because of Ashley. She is a player. When Ashley wants to play she can play. She is a flat out rebounder and the thing I’ve been most impressed with is her ability to score the basketball."

Benjamin, who was 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line, was surprised when she saw her numbers at the end of the game.

"I felt that I did a pretty good job," Benjamin said. "I was just playing as hard as I could to help my team. My effort and the fact that I never gave up was a big reason for my success rebounding. I felt the more active I was the harder it would be for them to block me out."

With Benjamin wreaking havoc in every facet of the game, guards Brandi Schambough and KeKe Veal were equally successful as the duo combined for 26 points in the win.

Schambough came off of the bench to finish as the Cajuns’ second leading scorer with 16 points on 4-of-12 shooting and 4-of-6 from the free throw line, while Veal contributed with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.

"It was a total team effort," Benjamin said. "We had a good week of practice and everyone did a great job of playing defense, crashing the boards and shooting within our range. Everyone on this team played their role."

The Cajuns, who improved to 9-17 overall and 3-14 in the Sun Belt Conference, never trailed against Troy (6-20, 3-14) and led by as many as 20 points before the Trojans made a run late in the second half.

"We haven’t had a lot of experience playing with a lead," Brodhead said. "We have to learn how to play through the entire 40 minutes. We have to learn how to play with a lead. We are a young team and those things take time, but we have to be more patient when we have a lead."

In the losing effort, the Trojans were led offensively by Joanna Harden, who scored a game-high 25 points including a stretch where she scored 17 consecutive points in the second half to get Troy back in the game before fouling out.

Harden was joined by Sarah McAppion, who was the only other Trojans player to reach double-figures in points, as she finished the game with a double-double scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

"It’s always good anytime you can win, especially in conference," Brodhead said. "We’re learning how to play Division I basketball and tonight we were put in a situation that we aren’t used to being in. Going through these experiences is only going to make us better and I’m happy for the kids more than anything because they deserve it."

Follow assistant sports editor Eric Narcisse on Twitter @tdanarcisse.