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CORPUS CHRISTI — Sophomore Judy Jones recorded her first double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and UTSA held Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to just 23.3 percent shooting from the field for its first Southland Conference victory of the season, 58-38, on Wednesday night at American Bank Center.
Jones added five assists, four blocks and a pair of steals in 35 minutes for the Roadrunners (5-10, 1-1 SLC). Junior Whitney Wright just missed out on a double-double of her own with 12 points and nine rebounds, while freshman Ashley Spaletta hit three 3-pointers en route to 11 points.
Brandi Huff led the Islanders (4-11, 0-2 SLC), who dropped their 18th consecutive Southland contest, with eight points off the bench.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi jumped out to a 9-3 lead before UTSA grabbed the lead with a 19-1 run in which the Roadrunners held the Islanders without a field goal for seven-and-a-half minutes.
Spaletta quickly erased the six-point deficit with back-to-back treys to ignite the spurt. Jones followed with a layup and the first 3-pointer of her career. Inside baskets by Wright and junior Simone Young, along with free throws from freshman Kamra King made it 22-10 with nine minutes left in the half.
UTSA kept the lead above seven for the rest of the stanza and took a 33-19 edge to halftime. Spaletta added her third 3-pointer of the night for nine points at the break and the Roadrunners’ bench outscored Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s, 17-4, through the opening 20 minutes.
The Islanders were able to slow the UTSA offense with a zone defense and full-court press, but their offense never fully got on track.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi did make a run midway through the second half. Trailing 37-21, the Islanders put together an 11-2 stretch to cut the deficit to seven with just less than 12 minutes to play.
However, that was as close as they got, as the Roadrunners allowed just two baskets the rest of the way en route to the 20-point victory.
UTSA outrebounded the Islanders, 47-45, and it scored 20 points on 20 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi turnovers.
Meanwhile, Young collected five of the Roadrunners' 15 assists, which was team's second-highest total of the season.
The 38 points allowed by the Birds were the fewest since a 58-37 victory aganst Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 17, 2010, in San Antonio. Additionally, the Roadrunners have held the Islanders to an average of 46.6 points per game in the last five meetings.
UTSA will return home for a 2 p.m. matchup with Stephen F. Austin (12-3, 2-0 SLC) on Saturday.