UTSA to face Santa Clara in final non-conference tune-up Sunday

can be heard live on goUTSA.com.

UTSA Women’s Basketball Game Preview

• Game 11 •

UTSA Roadrunners (3-7)
vs.
Santa Clara Broncos (3-8)

Sunday, Jan. 4 • 2 p.m. • Convocation Center

.
RADIO/TV
The game can be heard live on goUTSA.com beginning at 2 p.m. (Central). Assistant Sports Information Director Erin Molina will handle the play-by-play.

UTSA TODAY
UTSA enters its first game of the new year and final non-conference game of the season with a 3-7 mark. The Roadrunners play their third consecutive home game coming off a 1-1 split at the Wells Fargo/UTSA New Year ’s Classic. The ’Runners defeated Alcorn State 74-50 and lost to No. 11 Kansas State 75-45 earlier this week.

THE SERIES
Sunday ’s game marks the first meeting between the Roadrunners and Broncos.

SCOUTING THE BRONCOS
SCU has lost five straight games with their last action taking place on Dec.29,a 65-77 loss at Alabama. All three of the Broncos’ wins this season have come on the road, the last at Nevada, 60-53, on Dec. 7. Santa Clara is led in scoring by junior Michelle Cozad averaging 17.3 points per game followed by senior Whitney Sutak with 10.4. Freshman Ashley Gonnerman standing at 6-3,leads the Broncs’ in rebounds grabbing 6.3 per contest.

AT THE HELM
UTSA Head Coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair (Oklahoma State ‘85), in her fourth year with the Roadrunners, is a two-time Southland Conference Coach of the Year (2001, 2003). She is 53-43 at UTSA (.552) and 160-87 (.647) over a career that spans eight years. Her most recent coach of the year selection came in 2003 when she led the Roadrunners their first-ever SLC regular season championship. She is third on UTSA’s all-time wins list.

LAST TIME OUT -No.11 Kansas State defeats UTSA,75-45, at Wells Fargo/UTSA New Year's Classic

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -A career-high 19-point performance from UTSA sophomore Katie Sandefur was not enough to overcome No. 11 Kansas State as the Wildcats went on to a 75-45 win over the Roadrunners in women's basketball action Wednesday afternoon at the Convocation Center. 

The career-day for Sandefur included a 4-of-5 showing from 3-point land and 7-of-10 from the field. The Kingfisher, Okla., native also represented the 'Runners on the all-Classic team. 

UTSA trailed by only five at the 10:45 mark and kept the deficit to single digits until 3:25 left in the first. At the break K-State carried a 32-19 lead. The Wildcats started the second with a 9-0 run that included back-to-back buckets by Nicole Ohlde who led the 'Cats with 20 points and 10 rebounds. 

The 'Runners would not get any closer that 15 in the second half as the K-state lead grew to 30, 71-41 with 2:29 left to play.  

Ohlde and Kendra Wecker were tabbed all-Classic for the Wildcats with Wecker adding 14 points.

UTSA (3-7) faced its second Big 12 and Top-25 opponent of the year, losing in the first game of the season to then No. 6 Texas Tech. 

The Roadrunners will host their final non-conference game on Sunday, Jan.4,when they take on Santa Clara University at 2 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

NEXT UP
UTSA will open Southland Conference (SLC) play on Jan.10 at Texas-Arlington. It will be the first of three straight games on the road.

SERIES HISTORY
UTSA vs. Santa Clara: first meeting

CLIMBING THE SCORING LADDER
Senior Nikki Hendrix is currently 12th all-time on UTSA’s scoring list with 797 points.

MAY WE HELP YOU?
UTSA picked up a season-high 20 assists in the win over Alcorn State on Dec.30. Kim Reed (Dallas, Texas) led the way with six, while Katie Sandefur (Kingfisher, Okla.) and Dewella Holliday (Monroe City, Mo.) and each had five. Tijwana Collins (Meridian, Miss.) and Ana Oliveira (Eixo, Portugal) had two apiece.

SCORE MORE
UTSA has scored 70-plus points on two occasions this season. The first, a 73-82 loss at Southern Utah and the second, a 74-50 win over Alcorn State. The 74 points is the most for Coach Blair’s team since her first year, 2000-01.

IN THEIR TWENTIES
Seniors Nikki Hendrix and Dewella Holliday have scored 20-plus points three and two times, respectively. Hendrix is averaging 17.0 points per game to lead the ’Runners, while Holliday has 15.3.

GOT THE MOJO RISIEN
Freshman J.J. Risien (Dripping Springs, Texas) leads all UTSA newcomers averaging 4.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game off the bench. J.J. is the daughter of former Texas A&M football standout and 11-year Cleveland Brown veteran Cody Risien.

REED’S HELPING HAND
Junior guard Kim Reed (Dallas, Texas) has offered up 32 assists on the season to lead the team with 3.2 per game. She had the second-most assists on the team last year with 57.

HAPPY HOLLIDAYS
Senior Dewella Holliday (Monroe City ,Mo.) was named the Southland Conference (SLC) Player of the Week it was announced Monday (Dec.8) in a release by the league's office. The UTSA guard/forward earns her first-ever weekly honor after scoring her second double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the Roadrunners only game of the week at Alabama. She also tacked on two assists and one steal. The 2002-03 SLC Newcomer of the Year has scored in double figures in six of UTSA’s seven games this season.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
UTSA returns two all-conference selections from a year ago, with each of them landing a spot on the 2003-04 SLC preseason all-conference squad Senior forward Nikki Hendrix (Ardmore, Okla.) was named to the first-team squad. Senior forward Dewella Holliday (Monroe City, Mo.) tied for the last available spot on the second-team squad.

The duo joins the following Roadrunners on the all-conference teams:  Angel Singleton, second team, 1997; Joyce Howard, second team, 1998; Rosie Smith, second team, 1999; Keelah Wilson, second team, 2000; Renda Churman and Julie Rampley, second-team,2001; Nikki Hendrix, second-team, 2002.

’RUNNERS UP
After winning the regular season Southland Conference (SLC) championship in 2002-03, UTSA is picked second in both the coaches and sports information director’s SLC preseason polls for 2003-04.Texas State, who edged out the Roadrunners for the SLC tournament title last year was placed atop UTSA in the preseason voting.

LOCKING ‘EM IN THE BIRD CAGE
The Roadrunners were a perfect 10-0 at home last season in Southland Conference play. The UTSA Convocation Center, affectionately tabbed “The Bird Cage ” by the Roadrunner faithful, provided the home court advantage as the team boasted a 17-4 overall home record.

THREE-PEAT
With a record of 18-11, the 2002-03 campaign marks the third straight season, all under Blair, that the Roadrunners have posted consecutive winning campaigns. The Roadrunners had not had three straight winning seasons since the 1984-87 campaigns under the late Bill MacLeay. It is the sixth time a Roadrunner team has had an 18-win season. The most wins in a season is 21 which came in 1983-84 under Ginny DeHaven.