Nov. 20, 2004
Contact: Matt Schabert (210) 458-4930
UTSA hits the road for meeting with Tulsa Monday
SAN ANTONIO - The Texas-San Antonio women's basketball team hits the road for a meeting with Tulsa on Monday at 7 p.m. at the Reynolds Center. The Roadrunners dropped their season opener to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday night, while this will be the first regular season game for the Golden Hurricane.
UTSA Roadrunners (0-1)
at
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (0-0)
Monday, Nov. 22 - 7 p.m.
Reynolds Center - Tulsa, Okla.
NOTES
UTSA travels to Tulsa tonight as the Golden Hurricane open their regular season ... UTSA dropped its regular season opener 66-44 to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday night ... Freshman Richelle Parks opened her UTSA career by grabbing 14 rebounds against the Islanders ... Senior Lyndsey greer tied a career high with a team-high 10 points on Friday against TAMU-CC ... Senior guard Nicole Dunson had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in her right knee and will miss tonight’s game ... The Roadrunners were 6-9 in road games last season and 1-6 in non-conference road games.
THE SERIES
The Roadrunners and Golden Hurricane renew the series this evening after a six-year hiatus. The teams played a home-and-home series in 1996 and 1998 with each team winning on the other’s home court. In 1998, UTSA knocked off Tulsa 69-63 at Tulsa, while in 1996, the Golden Hurricane handed UTSA an 81-68 defeat at the Convocation Center.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE GOLDEN HURRICANE
Tulsa opens its regular season tonight, having split a pair of exhibition contests. Tulsa defeated Cameron University 99-52 behind 18 points from Megan Moody. The Golden Hurricane dropped a 69-58 game to Everyone’s Internet. Jillian Robbins’ double-double of 19 points and 10 boards led Tulsa. Tulsa was 19-12 last year and is projected for a third place WAC finish.
THE COACHES
UTSA head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair (Oklahoma State, 1985), in her fifth year with the Roadrunners, is a two-time Southland Conference Coach of the Year (2001, 2003). She is 65-50 at UTSA and 172-95 over a career that spans eight years. In 2003, she led the Roadrunners to their first-ever SLC regular season championship. Kathy McConnell-Miller begins her sixth season as the head coach of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane women's basketball program in 2004-05. In five seasons, McConnell-Miller has an overall record of 72-77 and a Western Athletic Conference mark of 44-40.
LAST TIME OUT (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 66, UTSA 44)
Terra Andrews scored 21 points and pulled down 15 rebounds as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi never trailed in scoring a season-opening 66-44 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners on Friday night at the UTSA Convocation Center. The Islanders, 1-0, also received 13 points and 10 rebounds from Jackie Oboda. UTSA, 0-1, was led by senior Lyndsey Greer, who tied a career-high with 10 points. Freshman Richelle Parks added eight points and 14 rebounds.
ROAD RECORD
The Roadrunners are 9-14 all-time in their first game away from the Convocation Center since 1981, including losing the last five. Ironically, the last time the Roadrunners won their first game of the season on the road was at Tulsa in 1998-99, 69-63.
MONSTER OF THE BOARDS
Freshman center Richelle Parks collected 14 rebounds in her collegiate debut Friday against TAMU-CC. The performance ranked as the ninth highest in single game school history. Parks also narrowly missed a double-double with eight points. The 5-11 frosh averaged eight rebounds per game in the two exhibition contests.
CAREER NIGHT
Senior Lyndsey Greer tied her career high with 10 points against TAMU-CC last Friday night. Greer, who averaged only 2.7 points last season, also tied a career high with four field goals made.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Four Roadrunner newcomers made their UTSA debuts Friday, including three who saw their first collegiate action. Freshman Richelle Parks had the most impressive debut, grabbing 14 rebounds along with eight points. Terrie Davis netted nine points, while sophomore transfer Lacey Blau led the Roadrunners with three assists. Tia Bogan scored two points.
INCHING CLOSER
UTSA head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair is just 10 wins shy of becoming the all-time winningest coach in school history. At 65-51, Blair trails only Bill MacLeay (1984-89, 75-60) on the all-time list of UTSA coaches.
UTSA All-Time Coaching Record (by no. of wins)
Coach Yrs Seasons Record Pct.
1. Bill MacLeay 5 1984-89 75-60 .555
2. Rae Rippetoe-Blair 4 2000- 65-51 .560
3. Ginny DeHaven 3 1981-84 54-27 .666
4. Mary Ann McLaughlin 5 1989-94 50-87 .364
5. Terry Gray 3 1996-99 38-43 .469
6. Jeff Spivey 2 1994-96 15-37 .288
7. Jeff Dow * 1 99-2000 7-20 .259
WINNING COMES NATURALLY
In head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair’s first four seasons, the Roadrunners have averaged 16.3 wins per seasons. In the 23-year history of the program, UTSA has averaged 13.2 wins per season with 13 seasons finishing above .500.
DEFENDERS OF THE UNIVERSE
Under head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair, defense has been the key ingredient in the success of the Roadrunner program. Last season UTSA allowed opponents only 57.1 points per game, tops in the SLC for the third straight season, with opponents shooting only 37.5 percent from the field. UTSA ranked 20th nationally in scoring defense last year and has ranked among national team leaders in scoring defense every year with Blair. Against TAMU-CC last Friday, UTSA held the Islanders to 37.9 percent shooting in the second half and just 40.6 percent for the game.
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACK
According to a vote by the Southland Conference coaches, UTSA is projected for a fourth place finish in 2004-2005. The league’s SID’s selected UTSA fifth in the preseason vote.
THE KEY TO SUCCESS
Senior guard Kim Reed was recently honored by and inducted into the Golden Key International Honour Society, a non-profit group recognizing academic accomplishments of college juniors and seniors. Reed graduated seventh in a class of 754 seniors at Dallas’ Skyline High School and has continued her classroom success in San Antonio. She has been recognized as a member of the UTSA Dean’s List, Honor Roll and Honor’s Circle.
SUPER SENIORS
The Roadrunners head into the season with no lack of senior leadership. Four seniors, including three with three letters under their belt, are on board to provide head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair with leadership. Leading the way this season are senior guards Kim Reed and Lyndsey Greer, and center Holly Ziegler. Guard Nicole Dunson transferred from Central Florida two years ago and hopes to finish her collegiate on the court after several years plagued by injuries.
NEXT UP
UTSA returns to the Convocation Center on Friday, Nov. 26 for the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic. The Roadrunners play host to Prairie View A&M on Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. and host BIG EAST foe Seton Hall on Nov. 27 at 4 p.m. Arizona State is also participating in the tournament.