Dec. 14, 2004
Contact: Matt Schabert (210) 458-4930
UTSA hits the road for Denver/Wells Fargo Classic
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University of Denver Athletics | Gametracker
SAN ANTONIO - Winners of two straight, the Texas-San Antonio women's basketball team travels to Colorado for the Denver/Wells Fargo Classic on Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 18-19. The Roadrunners meet Southern Methodist in the first game on Saturday at 1 p.m. Central. UTSA will then face either Denver of Tennessee-Martin on Sunday at 1 or 3 p.m. Both games can be heard live on the Roadrunner Radio Network (KSJL 810 AM / Listen Live) beginning with the pre-game show 15 minutes prior to tipoff.
UTSA Roadrunners (3-4)
vs.
Southern Methodist Mustangs (6-1)
Saturday, Dec. 18 • 1 p.m. (Central)
Magness Arena • Denver, Colo.
UTSA Roadrunners (3-4)
vs.
Denver Pioneers (0-6)
or
Tennessee-Martin (1-6)
Sunday, Dec. 19 • 1 or 3 p.m. (Central)
Magness Arena • Denver, Colo.
TIP-OFF
Coming off two consecutive victories, the UTSA Roadrunners travel north to Denver, Colo., for the Denver/Wells Fargo Classic this weekend .. The Roadrunners face SMU on Saturday and either Denver or Tennessee-Martin on Sunday ... While the Roadrunners take part in the Denver tournament, the Pioneers participated in the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic last season ... In the last two games, the Roadrunners have held the opponents to just 41.5 points per game.
SERIES RECORD AGAINST THE FIELD
UTSA is 2-4 all-time against SMU, but the teams have not played since 1991 when UTSA won a 93-77 decision in San Antonio. Denver won a 58-55 game against UTSA last season to lead the series 1-0, while UTSA has never faced Tennessee-Martin.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE FIELD
SMU is 6-1 entering the Wells Fargo Classic. The Mustangs have scored victories over Southland foes Sam Houston and Texas-Arlington. Jamielle Dodds leads a balanced scoring effort with 11.4 points per game. The Denver Pioneers have opened the season 0-6 with Venice Adams’ 10.6 points leading the way. UT Martin is 1-6 on the year. Andreika Jackson leads the Skyhawks with 12.7 points per game.
TOURNAMENT TIME
UTSA is 13-29 during in-season tournaments away from San Antonio since the 1981-82 season. The Roadrunners did not play any neutral site tournaments last year, and the last neutral site tournament UTSA played at was the Fun in the Sun Shootout in Cancun, Mexico in 2002-2003.
LAST TIME OUT (UTSA 41, Texas Southern 33)
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- The University of Texas at San Antonio women's basketball team held the visiting Texas Southern Tigers scoreless for 11 minutes in the first half Sunday and allowed just three Tiger field goals in the second half as UTSA held off TSU, 41-33, at the Convocation Center. UTSA, which won its second consecutive game, improved to 3-4, while the Tigers fell to 0-7. A low-scoring first half foreshadowed the same in the final period as UTSA trailed 21-19 at the break but held TSU to just 12 points and 12 percent shooting (3-for-24) in the second half while scoring 22 itself. Junior Katie Sandefur led UTSA with 13 points, while junior Lacy Mingee tallied nine points and nine rebounds. Senior Kim Reed notched a career-high nine rebounds. Jennifer Hickmon was the lone Tiger in double figures with 13 points. Trailing 24-23 after a three-pointer by TSU’s Taneisha Riles at the 16:13 mark of the second half, UTSA constructed a 13-3 run over the next 10:59 to lead 36-27 with 5:12 left in the game. Senior Lyndsey Greer capped the run with a three-pointer. The Roadrunners held the Tigers to only four free throws during the 11-minute span as TSU went 0-for 12. TSU trimmed the margin to six on two occasions but Mingee hit an uncontested layup with 15 seconds left for the eight-point victory.
CLEANING THE GLASS
Freshman Richelle Parks is averaging a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game with 65 total caroms so far. She ranks third in the conference in rebounds per game. The 5-11 center grabbed 14 rebounds in her collegiate debut against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and then posted her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 boards at Tulsa. She added another double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in a 60-59 loss to Seton Hall and was named to the all-tournament team for the Hampton Inn/UTSA Thanksgiving Classic. At Texas A&M, she nearly posted another double-double with a team-high 13 points and nine rebounds. Parks reached double figures in rebounds again at UTEP on Dec. 4 with 11, including 10 in the second half. The record for most rebounds in a season is held by Cindy Pavell (271) in 1981-82.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Freshman Richelle Parks has posted two double-doubles so far this season. Northwestern State’s Amanda Bennett leads the league with three double-double performances in 2004-2005.
CAREER GREER
Senior Lyndsey Greer has already established career highs for points and rebounds this season. Greer, who averaged 2.7 points last season, improved her career-best to 14 points in the 60-59 loss to Seton Hall on Nov. 27, and set a career high for rebounds with seven at Texas A&M on Nov. 30. She tied her career high with 10 points against TAMU-CC on Nov. 19 and then re-established it at Tulsa with 11 points. She is averaging 7.7 points per game this year and ranks first on the team at the free throw line, shooting 75 percent.
BIG DAY AGAINST TSU
Junior forward Katie Sandefur, a native of Kingfisher, Okla., has settled into her starting role nicely this season with 6.1 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per game to rank second on the team. She has started all six games and scored a season-high 13 points along with six rebounds and a season high six assists in the 41-33 win against Texas Southern on Dec. 12. She netted eight points, six rebounds and four assists in the loss to Seton Hall on Nov. 27. She has played in 65 games over her career and has scored 391 career points.
RUNNING THE POINT
Senior Kim Reed was a big reason why the Roadrunners were able to overcome a 14-point second half deficit to win 54-50 at UTEP on Dec. 4. She scored 11 points in the second half and had five assists for the game. Reed ranks third in the conference in assists per game. She currently is the leading active career scoring leader for the Roadrunners. Reed, who averaged 4.8 points per game last year and came into the season with a 4.4 career scoring average, has stepped it up to 6.4 points per game in 2004-2005. With 420 career points, the 5-7 guard from Dallas needs just 94 points to climb into 25th on the career scoring chart at UTSA.
SHE’S BACK
Senior Nicole Dunson returned at full-strength at UTEP and led the Roadrunners with 18 points off the bench. Dunson scored 15 points in the second half and hit the go-ahead three pointer with 32 seconds left in the game. She finished 4-of-8 from three-point range in 26 minutes of action. Dunson set a record for most three-pointers in a season at Central Florida as a freshman in 2000-2001, then missed the 2001-2202 with a right shoulder injury. She transferred to UTSA in 2002-2003, sat out per NCAA transfer rules, and then missed last year with a right knee injury. Dunson tore the meniscus in her right knee prior to this season and played sparingly in the UTSA Thanksgiving Tournament.
PASSING GAME
UTSA ranks fourth in the Southland Conference in assists per game. The Roadrunners are averaging 15.1 assists per game in 2004-2005, compared to 12.7 during the 2003-2004 season. Senior Kim Reed and freshman Terri Davis lead the Roadrunners with 23 assists each. With 204 career assists, Reed is 10th on the all-time career assist chart at UTSA, needing just 16 more to move into eighth place.
QUALITY MINUTES
Junior Lacy Mingee ranks third on the team with 4.4 rebounds per game and leads the team with 10 blocked shots. She ranks third on the team, scoring 7.1 points per game, despite playing just 16 minutes per game. She gave the Roadrunners a lift in the first half at UTEP on Dec. 4, scoring 10 points on 4-of-6 from the floor off the bench. Against Texas Southern on Dec. 12, she notched nine points and had a team-high nine rebounds. Mingee has also scored 416 career points and needs just 98 to climb to 25th on the UTSA career scoring chart past Julie Rampley (513 pts, 2000-2002). She needs 82 rebounds to pass Soonja Robinson (299 rbs, 1995-98) into 22nd all-time.
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.
A DEFENSIVE TRADITION
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. This season, the trend has continued as the Roadrunners have only allowed 58.1 pointes per game. Opponents have shot just 37 percent from the field so far in 2004-2005. Against Texas Southern on Dec. 12, the Roadrunners held the Tigers to just 33 points and 19 percent shooting, just above the opponent record for worst field goal percentage in a game.
NEARLY THERE
UTSA head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair is just eight wins shy of becoming the all-time winningest coach in school history. At 68-54, Blair trails only Bill MacLeay (1984-89, 75-60) on the all-time list of UTSA coaches.
UTSA Coaching History
1. Bill McLeay (1985-89) 75-69
2. Rae Rippetoe-Blair (2000-) 68-54
3. Ginny DeHaven (1981-84) 54-27
4. Mary Ann McLaughlin (1989-94) 50-87
5. Terry Gray (1996-99) 38-43
6. Jeff Spivey (1994-96) 15-37
7. Jeff Dow (1999-2000) 7-20
CALL UP THE RESERVES
The UTSA bench has outscored the opponent bench in five of the seven games this year.
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.
NEXT UP
UTSA takes a few days off for the Christmas holiday before returning home to host the Wells/Fargo UTSA New Year’s Classic on Dec. 30-31.