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NATCHITOCHES, La. — Northwestern State opened the second half on a 14-4 run to erase a three-point halftime deficit and the Lady Demons picked up their first Southland Conference victory of the year with a 61-57 win against UTSA on Wednesday night at Prather Coliseum.
Senior Ashley Gardner led the way for the Roadrunners (6-11, 2-2 SLC) with her first double-double of the season (13 points/10 rebounds). Meanwhile, junior Whitney Wright logged 11 points and 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the campaign.
Trudy Armstead poured in 18 points and grabbed 10 boards to lead Northwestern State (5-12, 1-3 SLC), which snapped a nine-game losing streak to UTSA.
The Lady Demons opened the second half with baskets by Armstead, Jordi James and Jasmine Upchurch to grab a 30-29 lead, which was their first of the night. The run continued with 3-pointers by Meredith Graf and Tiandra Williams before another Armstead jumper made it 38-31 with 15 minutes to play.
The Roadrunners never let the deficit get to double figures, but Northwestern State's advantage did not dip below four until the 1:29 mark.
Trailing by eight with 3:43 to play, UTSA got a free throw from sophomore Judy Jones and back-to-back 3-pointers from freshman Ashley Spaletta to make it 56-55. A pair of James free throws extended the lead to three before junior Jalisa Montgomery’s layup again cut the deficit to one with 49 ticks left.
However, the Roadrunners got no closer, as Armstead’s turnaround jumper and an Ebony Ford free throw iced the four-point triumph.
UTSA outrebounded Northwestern State, 43-32, and outscored the Lady Demons’ bench, 26-8, but it committed 16 turnovers that led to 21 points for the home squad.
The Roadrunners scored 10 of the contest's first 12 points by pounding the ball inside for four baskets.
Gardner got the offense going with a jumper in the paint and that was followed by a bucket from junior Cori Cooper. Wright and Cooper then capped the run with a pair of three-point plays.
The advantage stayed above four for much of the half and UTSA rattled off six consecutive points late in the stanza to grab their its double-digit lead of the night at 25-14 with 5:45 left before intermission. The edge sat at nine with two minutes to go, but a 3-pointer by Ronikka Drake and an Armstead three-point play cut it to 27-24 at halftime.
The Roadrunners will look to get back on the winning track on Saturday when they host I-35 rival Texas State (10-6, 2-1 SLC) at 2 p.m. The game will be televised on Time Warner Cable, Texas Channel 888, with Jason Minnix and Kevin Brock calling the action live from the Convocation Center.