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SAN ANTONIO — Junior Cori Cooper recorded season highs with 18 points and seven rebounds to lead UTSA to a 67-53 victory against I-35 rival Texas State on Saturday at the Convocation Center. The Roadrunners won their seventh consecutive game against the Bobcats, the longest such streak in program history.
Cooper played a career-high 31 minutes and was 6-of-8 from the floor to go along with a 6-of-7 mark at the free throw line. Meanwhile, senior Ashley Gardner scored a dozen and sophomore Judy Jones chipped in 10 for the Roadrunners, who improved to 7-11 on the season and 3-2 in Southland Conference play.
Meanwhile, Diamond Ford and Kaylan Martin notched 11 points to lead the Bobcats (10-7, 2-2 SLC).
“Cori did a great job and we did some different things today,” head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair said. “I thought we really did a good job defending Diamond and I think our freshmen are playing really well right now. We have been challenging Kamra King in practice and she has really stepped up.”
UTSA’s defense set the tone early and Texas State was able to connect on just one of its first 12 shots.
The Roadrunners raced out to a 9-2 lead thanks to baskets by four different players. A jumper from Jones and Gardner’s three-point play capped the spurt after buckets by junior Simone Young and freshman Kamra King.
The Bobcats trimmed the lead to two on Ford’s lone 3-pointer of the contest, but UTSA responded with a 13-1 run for its largest lead of the frame, 24-8, with five minutes to play. Texas State remained cold offensively and was held without a field goal for nearly seven minutes during the run.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from King and fellow freshman Ashley Spaletta highlighted the spurt and the Roadrunners owned a 28-21 advantage at halftime.
UTSA held Texas State to just 15.4 percent shooting from the field, its lowest of any first half this season, but the Bobcats kept the deficit at seven by hitting 11-of-15 free throws in the stanza.
The Roadrunners quickly regained their double-digit lead on a layup and free throw by Cooper in the opening minute of the second half.
However, Texas State crept back in the game and cut the lead to just two, 37-35, on Jasmine Baugus’ 3-pointer with 14:29 on the clock.
The Roadrunners once again countered with a sizeable run, this time to the tune of 9-0, to regain their lead.
The Bobcats got no closer than five from there and UTSA cruised to the 14-point victory.
The Roadrunners continually pounded the ball inside and finished with 38 points in the paint. The dominance down low helped UTSA shoot 43.9 percent for the contest, including a 51.9 percent clip in the second half.
UTSA will return to action on Jan. 28, when it travels to Huntsville for a 2 p.m. matchup with Sam Houston State (8-7, 3-1 SLC). The Bearkats opened the conference season with a 63-50 win against the Roadrunners two weeks ago.