UTSA Roadrunners (6-10, 2-3)
vs.
Lamar Lady Cardinals (4-11, 1-4)
Thursday, Jan. 29 • 7 p.m. • Montagne Center (10,080) • Beaumont, Texas
RADIO/TV
Thursday's game can be heard live on the Roadrunner Radio Network (KSJL 92.5 FM/810 AM and on www.goUTSA.com) beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m. Assistant Sports Information Director Erin Molina will handle the call.
UTSA TODAY
UTSA will look to even its Southland Conference record and halt the current two-game losing skid in tonight’s matchup. The Roadrunners lost a pair of league games at home over the last week including a tight 43-44 heartbreaker to Texas State and a 64-71 decision to Northwestern State who is atop the SLC standings.
THE SERIES
UTSA and Lamar meet for the 19th time with the series dating back to the 1981-82 season. The Lady Cardinals hold the all-time edge by the count of 10-8.UTSA has won five of the last six meetings including a series sweep in the 2002-03 season. The Roadrunners are 3-4 all-time in Beaumont and 3-6 on the road this season. Lamar is 3-4 at home this season.
SCOUTING THE LADY CARDINALS
Career highs by junior Demela Lowe and freshman LaToya Carson were not enough to complete a second-half comeback for the Lamar on Saturday afternoon, as the Lady Cardinals fell to Texas State 82-67. Lowe poured in 17 second-half points and Carson added eight in the second frame, as Lamar recorded its highest single-half point total of the season with 44.The Lady Cardinals game total of 67 points was also a season-high. Lamar nailed 15-of-26 field goals in the second half and recorded a 57.7 field goal percentage, while outscoring the Bobcats by 10 points in the period.
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 56-46 at UTSA (.549) and 163-90 (.644) 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 tied for second on UTSA’s all-time wins list.
LAST TIME OUT
1/24 ROADRUNNERS FALL TO LEAGUE-LEADING NORTHWESTERN STATE, 71-64
SAN ANTONIO - UTSA saw a first-half lead of as many as 13 slip away as Southland Conference-leading Northwestern State battled back to come away with a 71-64 win over the Roadrunners Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
The Lady Demons never led in the first-half with UTSA jumping ahead 12-4,early behind a 9-0 run sparked by a Dewella Holliday 3-pointer.Holliday who made three 3-pointers on the afternoon finished with 15 points as did Nikki Hendrix to lead the Roadrunners. Kim Reed added a season-high 14 to the effort. Holliday was one of three 'Runners with multiple 3-pointers as the team shot a season-best 10-27 (37.0%) from beyond the arc. UTSA's lead grew to 13, 23-10 with 9:25 to go in the half. Northwestern State used a 7-0 spurt to cut the lead to two, 29-27, at the 2:51 mark, but UTSA held on at the half for a 34-31 lead.
Northwestern State (13-4,6-0) grabbed its first lead of the game, 35-34, at the 18:39 mark on a layup by Diamond Cosby, who finished with 18, including a perfect 3-of-3 from 3-point land. It was a see-saw battle from that point. UTSA was able to tie the score at 48 with 8:13,but their last lead of 44-43 would come with 13:21 remaining. The Lady Demons opened up a six-point advantage on Cosby's third 3-pointer of the night with 4:28 to play. Two points is the closest the 'Runners would get as UTSA missed six of its final seven shots and Northwestern sealed the victory with six-of-six shooting from the line.
La'Terrica Dobin led four Lady Demons in double-figures with a season-high 24 points. Along with Cosby, Amanda Bennett had 11 and Chassidy Jones added 10.Bennett and Jones were the top rebounders with nine each.
Tijwana Collins chipped in nine points for the Roadrunners while Katie Sandefur grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds.
BLOCK PARTY
Through 16 games this season, sophomore center/forward Katie Sandefur has
already matched her blocks total (12) from a year ago. The Oklahoma native
averages just under one block per contest. Kim Duncan (1983-85)is the all-time and single-season blocks leader at UTSA with
57 and 93 blocks, respectively.
MAY I HELP YOU?
Katie Sandefur’s seven assists against Northwestern State is a personal career-high for the Oklahoma native as well as the most by a Roadrunner this season. Sandefur has dished out 36 assists this season, the second-most on the team.
BIRDS BATTLING FOR BOARDS
UTSA has only managed to out-rebound its opponents four times this season. Only two of the ’Runners’ six victories have come when they held the rebounding advantage. The Roadrunners have been outrebounded by total count of 609 to 543.
EVERYDAY IS A HOLLIDAY
UTSA’s second leading scorer senior Dewella Holliday (14.6 ppg) has scored in double-figures in 13 of the Roadrunners 16 games played this season.
Fellow senior Nikki Hendrix is on the same track with 10 double-digit performances in 11 games since returning to the Roadrunner lineup in December.
CLIMBING THE SCORING/REBOUNDING LADDERS
Hendrix is currently 9th all-time on UTSA’s scoring list with 893 points. Averaging 357 points per season, the Oklahoma native is on pace to reach 1000+ points by the end of her career. Hendrix has 344 career rebounds, making her 14th all-time at UTSA. She is second on the team this season averaging 6.4 per game.
SCORE MORE
UTSA has scored 70+ 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+ points three and two times, respectively. Hendrix is averaging 16.3 points per game to lead the ’Runners,while Holliday is second with 14.6.
GOT THE MOJO RISIEN
Freshman J.J. Risien (Dripping Springs, Texas) leads all UTSA newcomers averaging 3.8 points and 2.2 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 dished out 51 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.
SOUTHLAND HONORS FOR HOLLIDAY
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 10 of UTSA’s 11 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.
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.
INJURY REPORT
UTSA: Nicole Dunson is out for the season with a torn anterior crucial ligament.