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SAN ANTONIO — UTSA held Texas-Pan American to 33 percent shooting from the floor and set a school-record with 14 blocks en route to a 68-54 victory in Wednesday's finale of the Holiday Classic at the Convocation Center.
Junior Ashley Gardner, who was named to the all-tournament team, led three Roadrunners in double figures with a game-high 18 points. She added six rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal. Juniors Whitney Wright and Simone Young each added 11 points.
Meanwhile, Laquita Garner paced the Broncs (4-11) with 15 points.
UTSA (4-7) got off to a quick start thanks to a layup by Wright and 3-pointer from Gardner for a 5-0 lead. However, Texas-Pan American scored eight of the next 11 points to tie the score.
It was the first of four ties in the half and the last was broken when the Roadrunners scored six straight thanks to jumpers by junior Jalisa Montgomery and freshman Jenny Menz. A Young layup from capped the spurt and made it 24-18 with 6:35 left in the half.
UTSA took its largest lead of the frame, 33-26, on layups by Young and senior Ijeoma Waturuocha, but a Cassandra Moody jumper helped cut the lead to 33-29 at halftime.
The Roadrunners turned up the intensity and recorded nine of its record 14 swats in the second half.
After a Keandra Goodson basket on the Broncs’ first possession, UTSA rattled off a 12-2 spurt that pushed the advantage to double digits for good.
Gardner ignited the run with her second 3-pointer of the night. Another jumper from the North Little Rock, Ark., native was followed by a pair of layups by sophomore Judy Jones, while freshman Kamra King capped the stretch with a 3-pointer of her own.
A Goodson jumper made it 54-44 with 10 minutes to play, but UTSA scored five in a row to keep the lead in double figures the rest of the way.
Wright recorded a career-high six blocks to go along with a half dozen defensive rebounds. Gardner (3), Young (2), Jones (2) and junior Lyndi Thorman (1) also turned back shots to best the previous program standard of 12 that was set last season against Huston-Tillotson.
UTSA shot a season-high 46.2 percent for the game and, for the second consecutive night, connected on at least 50 percent of its attempts in the second half.
The Roadrunners will be back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 28, when they travel to Dallas for a 7 p.m. matchup at SMU (6-5).