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SAN ANTONIO — Freshman Ashley Spaletta hit four 3-pointers en route to 16 points and she led UTSA to a 59-55 victory against Detroit on Saturday night in the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic finale at the Convocation Center.
Sophomore Judy Jones finished with 11 points and eight rebounds for the Roadrunners (2-4) to earn a spot on the all-tournament team, while freshman Kamra King notched all nine of her points in the second half.
Shareta Brown finished with a game-high 18 points to pace the Titans (0-6).
After a back-and-forth start to the contest, Detroit held a 14-9 lead on Megan Hatter’s 3-pointer with 12:13 to play in the half. However, UTSA went on a 7-0 spurt for a two-point advantage of its own and it would not trail the rest of the way. A jumper from Lauren Allen tied the score for the fifth and final time before Jones and junior Lyndi Thorman combined to score six straight points for a 22-16 lead.
The Roadrunners closed the stanza in style with five points in the final 27 seconds, highlighted by Spaletta’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give UTSA a 29-22 advantage at intermission.
King got the Roadrunners going in the second half with a jumper on UTSA’s opening possession to push the lead to nine. The advantage would stay greater than six until a pair of free throws from Senee Shearer made it 38-33 with 12 minutes on the clock.
However, 3-pointers from King and Spaletta on consecutive trips down the floor gave the Roadrunners their largest advantage of the night, 11, less than a minute later.
The teams traded baskets until the closing minutes, when Brown’s layup capped a 6-1 run and cut the lead to two, 54-52, with two minutes to play. But freshman Mannasha Bell and Jones went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to salt the game away.
The Titans shot 41-percent for the contest and 48-percent in the second half but turned the ball over 22 times. Meanwhile, the Roadrunners outscored Detroit 18-13 from the free throw line and held a 39-34 advantage on the boards.
UTSA's reserves played a key role in the victory by outscoring the Titans’ bench, 26-13.
The Roadrunners will be back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at USC (2-3). Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. (CT).